Crash
by gibbsxzivaxtony9761
Summary: What would happen if Gibbs and Kate end up in a car crash after a fire fight in the middle of no where? How will they survive and will their relationship grow? Will one of them die before they can tell the other how they really feel? KIBBS
1. Chapter 1

**I'm going to go back to All For You, but I just can't seem to find where my muse went. I'll get back to it when it comes back though! In the mean time, enjoy! **

**Summary: What would happen if Gibbs and Kate end up in a car crash after a fire fight in the middle of no where? How will they survive and will their relationship grow?**

Gibbs POV

"Kate! Get to the car!" I yelled, putting two bullets in the man in front of us. We were hopelessly out numbered, men were pouring in from every entrance, each one armed to the teeth. It was either die of fly out of here now.

"I'm not leaving you!" She cried stubbornly over the flying bullets. I hid behind the same stack of medal crates as her and looked around desperately for a way out.

"There," I pointed towards a surprisingly clear medal door at the end of the room, "Go, I'll cover you. I want you to run as fast as you can to the car, I'll be right behind you."

She looked at me; her brown hazel eyes filled with unsaid words and emotions that she never had time to express. I looked back at her, knowing that we were running out of time and yet unable to look away from her. I couldn't tear my eyes away from our mutual connection of unsaid words.

The shots that bounced off the medal seemed to fade away into the background, and there was just her and I; one, whole, perfect.

"Gibbs," she whispered, obviously getting lost in the same connection, unable to move.

A rational part of my brain began screaming out to me and telling me to move the both of us before we were killed.

I gave her a gentle push, breaking through the haze, I said, "Go, get to the car, Kate."

She nodded, standing up, her gun drawn. She leaped out into the open, firing shots left and right and clearing a path.

I was right behind her, finishing off the men that were still standing. They fell one by one and by some miracle we managed to get out of the warehouse.

The cool midsummer night air drifted around us, lazy, taking it's time and obviously oblivious to the rounds of ammunition and blood that was being poured from every men inside that building. Oblivious to two people running for their lives, the only person they could count on was each other.

"Do you know where the car is?" I whispered, keeping my voice low as we snaked around the shipping crates at the shipping docks. The cement was wet with rain that had long sense stopped and made it even more hazardous.

She nodded, her face pale and covered with a thin layer of sweat. The moon shone down on us, making her skin shimmer and her brownish red hair fly like a bright cape behind her.

Suddenly, I felt a bullet whip right over my head and let out a low curse and urged her to go faster. She didn't turn and ask me what was wrong, she knew when to follow orders.

What if neither of you make it out alive? I wondered while my feet pounded against the cement and disturbing ever puddle that came into my way. I pushed the thought aside and made myself go faster until I was now in front of her, my gun out, ready.

I could now see the car, a black BMW, it's black bullet proof windows shinning like a beacon from heaven; it's silky frame was the closest thing we had to a barrier and our only escape from this hell whole with our lives.

I had long sense forgotten the leader of the mob that had caught us by surprise in the warehouse not long ago; all I could think of now was getting her safe.

Suddenly, I heard a strangled scream behind me and turned around so fast I almost lost my balance.

"Dammit!" I swore once I saw the already pale brunette lying on the cement flood, desperately trying to claw her way to her feet.

I quickly sprinted back, firing blindly behind me, and picked up first her gun and then managed to get her onto my back. Her arms clung around my neck so tight that I thought that she might just break it.

I looked down while I was running to see blood seeping from a wound at her right thigh. Her breathing was shallow and forced because of the pain.

After what seemed like an eternity, we both reached the car. I breathed a small sigh of relief as I opened the passenger side of the door, adrenaline still coursing through my veins, and gently laid her down flat.

I fired behind me again, catching the two closest to us in the chest. I got into the drivers side of the car and slammed the key into the ignition, making the car roar to life. I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and sped away from the bullets that were trailing us and bouncing off the medal of the car.

I chanced a glance at the rear view mirror to see that we weren't being followed yet and breathed a sigh of relief.

I heard her shallow and forced breathing as if it were a gun being fired right next to me, making my ears ring and my heart clench involuntarily.

"It's gonna be OK Kate, I'm going to get you to a hospital and then they'll fix you up, alright?" I called behind me.

When I didn't get a response I began to worry.

"Kate, if you can hear me say something," I told her desperately, needing to hear her voice, "anything."

I heard a low moan, "It hurts like a bitch, Gibbs," she growled through her teeth.

I gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, I bet it does," I agreed.

We kept on driving in silence. I looked to my left to see that we were in the middle of nowhere, groves of trees surrounded us on both sides along with mountains in the distance. A good hospital was probably hours away.

Suddenly, I felt something hard and heavy collide with the side of the car, making me lose control.

I felt the car spinning and flipping over, my eyes wide in shock as I was bounced in my seat. Suddenly, I heard a sharp crack and then I felt the blinding pain.

I felt my eyes close shut and darkness envelop me.

I tried to make my mouth work and ask her if she was OK, but I couldn't I was too tired. Suddenly the fire fight we had just gone through seemed to fade away and the sweet and bitter unconscious waves pulled me under.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate POV

I felt my body being bounced in the car and being rolled off of the black leather seats and onto the carpeted floor. My injured leg banged against the locked doors and my head snapped against the carpet, jerking me away with a new wave of pain.

I felt my muscle clench as we continued to roll and spin. I bit off a scream of fear as I looked towards the front seat to see Gibbs unconscious, his body clumped in the front seat, his arm bent at an unnatural angle.

I waited for the car to stop, holding my breath and trying to block out the now unbearable pain.

I heard the crunch of glass and the roar of our car bumping against the trees and into the forest and winced. I shut my eyes tight, praying for it all to be over soon.

Finally, all was quiet.

The only sound was the stillness of the night, the sky a navy blue and fading to black. I waited a few more seconds then slowly propped myself up on my elbows.

"Gibbs?" I whispered, calling out his name hesitantly.

I waited for him to answer, to jerk awake, to yell at me, to do _something, _and when he didn't, I felt my heart speed up in my chest until it was beating at a fast paced presto in my chest.

I sat up and slowly crawled my way into the front seat, biting back screams of pain as I moved my injured leg.

I climbed into the seat next to him and my eyes went wide. His arm was definitely broken, that much was certain. I could tell from past first aid training that the shoulder had completely popped out of its socket and winced. Glass had broken off and some how lodged itself into parts of his chest, making small wounds that weren't bleeding yet.

"Gibbs," I called again, shaking him gently with one hand on his left shoulder, careful not to disturb his injured right.

He moaned in response and slowly, his eyes opened. I wanted to cry out from the pain that I saw there that he never learned to voice but instead kept quiet.

"Kate!" He cried out suddenly, turning to face me, "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice genuine and full of concern.

I nodded, "Just a little gun shot wound, nothing more. Don't move your right arm, OK? I'll fix it. We should have medical supplies somewhere."

I pulled out a first aid kit from underneath his seat and opened it up to find materials for a make shift sling.

"Your shoulder popped out of it's socket, so this might hurt a little," I told him, not wanting to cause him anymore pain then necessary.

He nodded, accepting my help with no complaint. My finger probed lightly up his arm from his tricep to his bicep, my fingers soft and cautious. Suddenly a wave of fear hit me and I froze; what if I just made it worse? How was he suppose to get help then?

"Kate, come on, you can do it," he whispered, "Just do it fast."

I nodded slowly and gripped his upper arm with one hand, the other on his shoulder.

"Hold onto the seat or something Gibbs, this is going to hurt," I told him, my voice hard and sober.

I felt him nod and tense slightly underneath my touch.

I counted to five in my head and then with all the force I could muster, I physically pushed up with my hand around his upper arm, hearing a dull pop, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I heard a muffled groan escape from his lips and looked at him, my eyes wide.

"I'm," I began to apologize but he silenced me with a finger on my mouth.

"Never say you're sorry, sign of weakness, remember?" He said, his voice husky.

I nodded, "Hold your arm up with your other hand, I have to splint it so it doesn't damage any further," I told him, turning a faint pink.

He nodded and I let go of his arm. I found the piece of wood to make the splint easily and fastened it onto his arm, making sure that it was secure, I cautiously helped him into the sling. I felt his shoulder and back muscle tense and tighten at my touch again and almost jumped.

"Here," I told him, handing him a bottle of pain pills, "Take these, you'll need them."

To my surprise he shook his head, "No, you're going to need them more than I will."

I sighed, "Take one, Gibbs," I said, exasperated.

The events of the day made me want to just lie down and sleep, I didn't want to argue with him anymore.

He glared at me and shook his head again.

"We have to find help, do you have a signal here?" He asked, his voice commanding.

I pulled out my phone and shook my head.

"Should we just stay here?" I asked him, turning to look through the windshield.

The sky was now pitch black, the trees were faint outlines that seemed to loom over us, about to topple over at any second.

He nodded, "Get some sleep, Katie, we'll figure this out in the morning."

I nodded and snuggled up in my seat, leaving my right leg perfectly straight and bring my other one up to my chest.

"Kate," he whispered softly, making me open my eyes once more, "You aren't going to sleep like that."

I looked at him, ready to argue with him, but sighed in defeat. I was too tired, I was ready to collapse.

"Come here," he whispered hesitantly, gently pulling me across his lap and draping his coat over my shoulders.

I looked up at him, hazel eyes meeting bright blue. I saw nothing but kindness and bravery in those eyes, none of the frustration and anger that I had seen just a few hours ago in the bullpen when he was yelling left and right, trying to find the mob leader.

This was a different man, I realized, one that will actually let you in, one that trusts you.

"Good night, Gibbs," I whispered softly, drifting off to sleep almost immediately after those words escaped from my mouth.

"Night Katie," I thought I heard him whisper and slept with a smile on my face.

Gibbs POV

"Night Katie," I whispered, letting a hand run through her brownish red hair, marveling at the softness.

I stared down at her sleeping figure, taking in how peaceful and calm she looked; she was no longer guarded, no longer on edge, but simply relaxed.

I fell asleep almost immediately after I realized that and woke up to the sun streaming through the wind shield. Summer was slowly approaching the deserts of Arizona, I realized. This case had been a tough one. We had to fly out and follow the Navy Petty Officer from DC to Arizona and through the deserts just to get his trail back.

I rubbed eyes and felt an unfamiliar weight on my lap and looked down to see Kate curled up into a neat ball, her face buried in my shirt and her hands clutching my coat.

I looked further down to see that her right leg was almost completely coated in blood.

I gently shook her awake, "Kate, wake up," I whispered, "I need to check your leg."

She stirred and her eyes opened immediately, full of fear and tears. She looked around for a second, still caught up in her nightmare, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Gibbs! Oh god," she whispered, seeing me, she buried herself into my shoulder.

I instinctively wrapped my arms around her, rubbing soothing circles in her back, trying to calm her down.

"It's OK Kate, we both made it out alive, I just need to check your leg then we can look for help, OK?" I whispered n her ear, my voice soothing.

She stopped shaking after a few more seconds and nodded.

I looked down to see that she was sliding her dress pants off and almost groaned out loud in response. Her skin was milky white, and the pink and black laced panties didn't help.

I ignored her body for a second and my eyes trailed down to the wound, to my relief, it had stopped bleeding, but it had left a hell of a lot of blood.

I took the bottle of alcohol and a few cotton balls and began dabbing at it.

She winced each time, and I felt her muscles tense at my touch. Her skin is so soft, I thought, milky white, and silky smooth. I wiped away most of the blood, and looked at her, to find her face just inches from mine, soft, full, pink lips, flushed cheeks, and hazel eyes, stared into mine.

"Gibbs," she whispered softly, her hand still gripping my shirt, she leaned upwards, closing her eyes, making my heart race in my chest.


	3. Chapter 3

Gibbs POV

I felt the world slow down till it was just a dull hum in my conscious brain. All I saw were here cherry red lips, coming closer and closer towards mine, her hazel eyes covered by cream colored lids, her skin, still so milky smooth and soft, pressing closer to me.

Then, at the very possible second, I realized who we were again. I was her superior, her, my subordinate. If this . . . whatever _this _was, happened, everything that we had both worked for would be shattered.

I sighed, glaring up at the roof of the car, wanting to kick myself in the gut for thinking so fast.

She seemed to hear me and the same realization dawned on her, and she silently, skillfully, _knowingly, _pulled away.

"I didn't mean to let it get this far, Gibbs," she whispered, not sending a verbal apology my way, thank God.

I nodded, acknowledging her instead, silent apology, "We should get out of this car and try and find our way to a hospital or a town, or something. They might be tailing us. We have to move."

She nodded and began slowly untangling her legs from around my waist. I could see her jaw muscles working, clenching back tears or pain, I didn't know. I doubted if I would ever know what she was thinking.

I began working at the car door with my left hand, using my foot to push me out and into the sticky, desert air of Arizona. The sun was like a raging fire, preying on the almost completely dried out plants.

I shielded my face from the already burning sun, raging like a fire and preying on the only forest outside of Arizona's spiraling city of Phoenix.

I looked over at Kate to see that she was still in the car, unmoving, as if in a daze. That was when I saw the silent tears slide gently down from her bright eyes, down her cheeks, and finally dripping off her chin. It broke my heart to see that.

Kate POV

I was so stupid. Why did I just try and kiss him? At this time? What was I thinking! We could die here and I was thinking about how his blue eyes were so bright, his broad shoulders, and his equally broad and muscular chest.

I sat perfectly still in the car, trying to gather myself up back into the tight ball of control I had been wearing to work since two weeks after he had hired me.

I didn't realize that I was crying until I felt the betraying salt water tears slide down my cheeks and blur my vision. I didn't bother wiping them away, because they wouldn't stop if I did.

I took a deep breath, wound myself back up, and slowly opened the door, setting my good leg out first and swinging my right leg over.

The Arizona sun was murder, glaring and bright, making the air seem even more musty and hot then it already was.

I looked around, and saw a few mountains in the distance, and past those were the cities.

I pointed towards the mountains, ignoring my throbbing leg as I tried to put some weight on it, "We should climb over those, then we might have a good chance of finding medical help or a city or something."

I looked over the car's roof to see that he was leaning against it, medical first aid kit in hand, his eyes staring off into space.

He nodded, "Yeah, but can you climb that with your leg?"

I nodded without hesitation. I wouldn't let myself slow him down if I could help it.

"Let's go, I want to get out of this place by night fall."

He began a quick jog towards the mountains, the heat didn't seem to bother him. I watched him run towards the mountains, admiring his muscles as they moved under his polo and the way his arms pumped at his sides.

I ran after him, hissing in pain as my leg started throbbing. I ignored the pain and pushed myself to speed up and follow him.

Soon, after a few agonizing minutes, we were finally side by side.

"Gibbs, why did you hire me?" I asked him curiously, trying to get my mind off of my leg.

He turned to look at me in surprise, but didn't slow down his pace.

"I hired you, Agent Todd," he began, "because I knew that you were going to be a damn good agent. You had balls, standing up to me like that."

I gave a small laugh, "You barely even knew me, how did you know that I wasn't just being a bitch?"

He gave me a ghost of the smile I loved and said, "My gut."

His answer was simple, and yet I had expected it. I gave him a full on smile back, and he seemed to give a low chuckle in response.

We were quiet then, the sun shone down on us, making beads of sweat crawl down my face. I felt the pain radiating from my leg slowly increasing and grit my teeth each time my leg hit the dusty ground.

"Kate," he said suddenly, and I turned to him, realizing that he had been watching me for the past half hour, "You're in pain."

It wasn't a question; it was a simple statement, one not to be argued with. I was about to try, but closed my mouth and continued jogging, stubbornly speeding up my pace to get ahead of him. The mountains still seemed so far away, like a lifetime away.

Suddenly, his arm snaked out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a painful stop at his side.

"Sit, I shouldn't have made you run so much. You're in pain," he murmured, taking out a knife.

"Take off those dress pants, I have to make them shorter so I can see the bullet wound."

I glared at him, and he just glared back expectantly. Finally, I sighed, and slowly unbuttoned and unzipped my pants, handing them to him. He didn't even spare me a glance as he took the expensive material in his hands and cut them into shorts.

He handed them back to me and I slid them back on, gasping in horror. The bullet wound had opened and blood was slowly oozing from the wound.

"Dammit," he swore and took the first aid kit out and found the bottle of alcohol and bandages.

The flesh around the wound had swollen up so now it was a bright red. I felt my stomach turn once I saw the blood pool and mix with the yellow sand, automatically painting it a dark red.

He looked at me, catching my eye, "This is going to hurt," he told me, his eyes gentle.

I nodded, and watched as he slowly poured a small amount of the alcohol into the wound. I grind my teeth together to keep from yelling out at the hissing pain and felt my hands clench into fists at my sides.

"Almost done," he whispered, his voice instantly cutting through the white hot pain.

Keep talking, I prayed, just keep talking, I wanted to tell him but kept my mouth shut.

He put on a pair of gloves and pinched the two sides of skin together, closing the wound and quickly putting a pad of gauze on top and tapping it around my leg.

His hands pressed down on the wound, making me wince a little and bite down hard on my lower lip.

"Almost done," he told me again, looking up at me, his hair blowing to the side.

I nodded, refusing to acknowledge my pain.

After several seconds, his hands were off of the gauze, and I felt his fingertips brush across my lower thigh and felt my heard start to race.

He looked up at me, both of us sitting so close to each other. His blue eyes were now softer, I realized, a delicate blue, not the icy cobalt, stormy, and full of fury and determination. The sun made him glow; I thought, made his silver hair shimmer and added a sparkle to his eyes.

"Come on, we have to keep moving," he told me, getting up and dusting the back of his pants off, and holding out a hand to me. I nodded, and took it, letting him pull me to my feet with little effort.

His arm went around my waist as he jogged, keeping me close to him and supporting most of my weight as I hobbled along beside him, not able to forget the touch and firmness of his hand around my waist, only a thin layer of fabric separated us, I thought.

Gibbs POV

I watched the sky turn from a clear blue to a delicate pink and slowed us down to a walk. We had only stopped once, and that was to check on Kate's wound.

I turned to look at her to see that despite the blistering heat and the raging sun's rays, her face was slightly paler then it was when we had started. A thin layer of sweat covered her forehead and she looked about ready to collapse.

I ignored the now dull throbbing of my right arm, she had done a good job, probably even set it right too, I mused.

I helped her sit and she did without complaint.

To say the least, I was surprised. She had kept up with my speed the rest of the day, not even acknowledging her pain, which I knew was present and just kept going, pumping her legs harder and harder.

She instantly collapsed backwards once my arm was at my side again and lay there, her breathing coming in gasps.

Slowly, cautiously, I lay down with her, looking into her eyes as well as the eastern sky.

"I used to love the sunset when I was a kid," she whispered, smiling a little through the hazy pain.

I laughed, "Yeah, me too, a sunset usually means the end to a day, and the beginning is just around the corner."

She turned to look at me just as the sky seemed to turn a delicate violet.

"Are we ever going to make it out of here?" She whispered, asking the question that I had been wondering the whole day and hadn't come up with a solid answer yet.

I hesitated, and then nodded, "Yeah, of course Kate, if you were DiNozzo, then I'd have my doubts because I'd probably shoot him before we even got out of the car."

She gave me a small chuckle that made my heart flutter.

I turned to face her, looking into her hazel eyes and drawing in my breath. No sunset, I realized, could compare to the various shades of brown in her eyes, nothing could compare to the kindness and the determination in those eyes, and nothing, nothing at all, could compare to her laugh, her sweet laughter, it was like bells chiming in the air, soft, delicate, and feminine.

I felt the shadows of the sunset dawn and twine around us, like a black blanket, wrapping us tight up together.

At the last rays of the quickly disappearing sun, I pulled her to me, and she clung to me. It's amazing how we fit perfectly, as if we were made for each other, I mused, and listened to her soft breathing.

We were both so vulnerable now, I thought, she was basically handing her life into my hands and letting me protect her, not doubting, and not questioning. I smiled at the though, I would keep her safe, even if it meant not sleeping tonight, hell, even if it meant my life, I would gladly hand it over in two seconds flat. She was my love now, I thought, after Shannon, I was positive I wouldn't be able to love again, but like the many things she has done, she surprised me and made me love her with a love so strong, so sweet, and yet so forbidden. It was like dying of thirst and having a glass of water in front of you, the droplets of moisture slipping down the glass's edge and knowing that it had been poisoned.

She teased me and dared me to "drink" her, and every day was a battle just to turn away. But one day, I knew, that I would break, and finally take my first sip, quenching my thirst, and possibly making her feel hollow after I was done. I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't potentially damage her, a woman who was just at the apex of her career, a woman that was so beautiful she made traffic stop, a woman, who quite frankly, I didn't nor cannot deserve.

As soon as I was sure she was sleeping, I whispered in her ear something I had been dreaming of saying to her for the past year.

"I love you Katie."


	4. Chapter 4

Kate POV

Unconsciously, I snuggled closer to him, burying my head in his chest and breathing in his scent. I felt a strong wind whip across my face and sand blow against both my body and his and winced. It felt like it was only three degrees out, the wind cutting through our clothing and slicing into our skin was greater than any pain that I had ever imagined.

I felt his arms tighten around me as he did his best to beat out the cold whip, taking the gusts of sand and wind as if they were meant for him and not me.

"You awake, Katie?" He whispered in my ear, his lips in my hair.

I nodded, afraid of opening my mouth and letting the sand pour into my throat.

"How long?"

I took a deep breath and said, "A few minutes, it's pitch black out here."

I strained my eyes, trying to see through the black cape of the once vibrant and viciously hot desert air.

He laughed, a low chuckle, "Yeah, it is. What woke you up, the wind or the pain?"

His voice was serious again, I didn't have to look into his eyes to know that he was worrying.

I hesitated, and whispered, "The pain."

My leg felt like it was being violently ripped and tugged at, the makeshift shorts he had given me allowed some of the sand to slowly slip through the bandage. I felt each grain as if it were a hot knife stabbing me through the heart.

"Dammit," he swore, and rolled me onto my back and pulled out a flash light.

"No, Gibbs don't. The light will attract animals, and I really don't want a snake near either one of us."

I heard the rustling of a bag and a zipper closing and sighed in relief.

Then, I heard the clank of pills and felt his hands on my face, gently opening my mouth and making me swallow one.

"Pain pills, should dim you out for a while," he whispered softly, and I felt his hand run through my hair to brush it back.

I nodded my thanks and then heard what seemed like the roaring of voices and trucks.

"Gibbs," I whispered, "Do you hear that?"

He was in motion immediately, I heard him get up and grab our bag, fumbling slightly because of the dark and a low string of curses erupt from his mouth.

I rose as well, balancing on my good leg and putting as little weight as possible on my bad leg. His arm was around my waist immediately, and he propelled me forward.

Suddenly, I saw the bright beam of a flash light and jumped, preparing myself for a fight when I saw his face.

"Sh, it's only me, Katie, we need some light. Let's go."

I nodded, watching as the flashlight's beam made his blue eyes shine brighter then ever as he made us run through the once peaceful desert night.

"Who are those people, Gibbs?" I asked, trying to keep the unbearable pain out of my voice.

He shook his head in frustration, "The guys we ditched back at the shipping docks, they're looking for us to finish us off."

I nodded, and made myself pump my legs even faster than before, not caring that something hot and sticky was running down my thigh.

"Kate, when you get to the mountain, I want you to climb as fast and as hard as you can. Don't look back no matter what you hear or see, OK?" he asked, his voice was serious, like it was at work.

I felt alarm start pumping through the pain and tried to turn around, only to see that the bright beam of the flashlight and the comforting presence of his arm around my waist was now long gone.

"Gibbs?" I whispered, knowing that it was no use. I walked forward hesitantly, now in the complete dark and felt my foot bump into something.

I bent down cautiously, and felt the object. He had left me my bag. I quickly unzipped it and rummaged around, triumphantly pulling out a flashlight.

I clicked it on and slung the bag over my shoulder. I could see the mountain, so close, yet so far away from where I was.

I turned around to see that the truck was now visible, even though it was only a small dot. I had to hurry.

I sprinted full out towards the mountain, the beam from the flashlight shinning and mapping out my way. I felt perspiration slip down my face and arms, no longer feeling the intense cold and most of the pain, I made myself go even harder towards the seemingly distant mountains.

Do it for Gibbs, I thought over and over again, he'll be there when he's finished, he has to be. He won't just let you look for a way out without him. He'll come.

But no matter how many times I repeated that sentence, I couldn't believe it. I pumped my legs faster still as I heard the truck's motor approaching slightly closer.

Finally, by some bizarre miracle, I was at the foot of the mountains. I stuck my flashlight back into my bag just as the moon's rays seemed to shine through the seemingly endless banks of clouds.

I looked up to see the moon making the sand turn strange silver and reflecting the moons beams. I ignored the beautiful sight and looked up at the mountain, searching for a foot and a hand hold.

Finally, after a few seconds, I found the small holes. I reached up and pulled myself up, hissing in pain as my injured leg was forced to bend and take on my weight. With every ounce of my strength, I pulled myself upwards.

Left, right, left, right, I thought in my head, as if it would help me climb this mountain any faster.

I felt the images of Gibbs fighting the men in the truck streak through my mind as I was halfway up and looked down.

Big mistake.  
>I was several feet up in the air now, the idea of jumping back down and helping him would surely kill me if the pain didn't. I felt the ground blur through my tears and clung to the surface of the mountain tighter, hoping and praying that he would join me soon.<p>

"Gibbs?" I whispered through my tears, hoping by some miracle that he would hear me, "Be careful."

I tore my gaze away from the bottom of the mountain and continued up, my tears streaming down my face and blurring my vision.

My arms and legs felt sore and I wanted to sleep away all the pain, I wanted to sleep and wake up in my own bed to discover that this was all just a dream and that I would have to go to work and fight a seemingly endless battle of ignoring my growing feelings for my boss.

Even that seemed better then climbing this damn thing and hopping and praying that he was still alive, and that he would be following me up the mountain soon.

Gibbs POV

As soon as I left her, I knew that I was leaving her blind, with just her instincts and her bag, there was a slim chance that she would make it up the mountain. I was hoping that she wouldn't have to climb it before I got there to help her.

I ran towards the growing roar of the engines and ducked behind a few ferns and brackets that were growing. I took my gun out and aimed it, waiting impatiently for them to draw closer.

I felt sweat and a strange nervousness over take my body and my senses, making my hand tremble slightly. This was the only shot I had at stopping the truck. If I missed, then they would know that we truly were here and then they would search even harder.

God Katie, I thought, I hope you're safe now, I hope that I'll be able to join you soon.

I watched the black truck pull up, leaving a trail of dust behind him. I cocked the gun, and took aim at the driver. Everything seemed to slow down all of a sudden. The truck, once going a hundred sum miles per hour seemed to slow down to a small crawl, and my finger that was about to pull the trigger seemed to do so in slow motion.

The sound of the bullet leaving my gun was deafening. Suddenly, the windshield was now stained a bright red. I smiled in satisfaction and shot the second driver easily, who was now paralyzed and in a state of shock.

The truck came to a stop and I heard the back doors open and held my breath.

I heard a dozen or so men conversing in rapid Arabic, their voices angry and cutting through the once silent night.

"Where are they?" I picked up, and ,"Who shot them?"

I sighed, this was going to complicate things a good deal. I heard their footsteps on the dry sand approaching my hiding place and tried to make myself as small as possible.

I heard the clack of machine guns being handed out and loaded.

"They are nowhere to be seen," a burly Arabic man said, his voice just above my head.

"We saw their car a few miles back," another argued, joining the man.

I couldn't risk making a dash for the mountain now, because they would most likely begin shotting at me the minute they saw my face.

Kate POV 

I clawed my way up the mountain, my arms aching form the strain and both my legs throbbing from the pain.

Once I reached the top, a sudden sense of fear seemed to overwhelm me again. Why wasn't he here yet? Surely climbing the mountain had taken a few hours, at the very least. He should be at the bottom now, at least, making his way up.

I had paused in between the span of the hours, looking down and giving myself a headache each time, searching for anything that was moving up the mountain, but to my devastation, he wasn't there.

What if they had found him and killed him?

No, I immediately thought, don't think like that Kate, Gibbs can take care of himself, he's proved it over and over again in the past, he can take them.

Despite the logic, my body reacted. I curled up into a ball at the top of the mountain, tears pouring down my face and trying desperately to get the image of blood pooling around his white body and men looking down at him, laughing their hearts out.

I began trembling, and choked on my sobs, shoving a fist in my mouth to quiet myself, I waited for him to come up this damn mountain and prove me wrong. I waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . but he never came.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate POV

I felt a gentle breeze ruffle my rumpled clothing and immediately, my mind was in a whirl wind of thoughts, as if sucked in while I had unconsciously fallen asleep.

Where is he? I wondered, did he make it up here yet? God, if he's not here, then . . . I didn't want to think of the alternative.

I didn't dare open my eyes, for once, I couldn't face the fear. I couldn't even look around because if he wasn't there, then my slightest hope the hope that I had with all my heart that he was alive, would be shattered into a million pieces. I would surely die here then, on top of this mountain, slowly fading away and waiting, just waiting, to join him.

The wind picked up and made me more awake. I felt jagged pieces of rock under my back and tried desperately to get comfortable, but couldn't. Suddenly, I remembered where I was.

I was on top of the mountain that I had climbed for most of the night, I remembered feeling so heart broken and grief stricken that I had curled in on myself and cried myself to sleep, waiting for him, but after what seemed like several hours, he hadn't come.

I curled myself up tighter, feeling something dry and sticky on my leg, I cautiously let my hand rest on the injured thigh and felt that the top portion was covered in my own blood.

I opened my eyes, and looked up just in time to see the sun slowly rising up from the bottom of a gentle abyss, the colors seemed to blur together and made the sunrise breath taking. I watched as the blues turned to purples, then pinks, until the whole eastern sky was a delicate pink, slowly making its way to red.

I looked down at my leg, refusing to look at my surroundings, the fear still dominating my being. I held my breath as I looked down to see that the bandage had long sense been torn off and that my leg was a bloody mess.

The bullet wound itself was clean, but it had started bleeding, the blood a dark red, even though it had long sense stopped.

While I was cleaning the wound, I strained my ears, hoping, praying, that there would be a gentle rustle of footsteps, hoping that the sudden breezes would pull _his _special and unique scent, hoping that there would be some indication that he was alive.

I waited, using a bottle of alcohol and cotton balls to clean my leg and put on a new bandage. Finally, I couldn't put it off any more.

I had to look up.

I tilted my head back, only to be greeted by the morning sun's rays, shinning bright on my face. I looked around, doing a quick 360 sweep that made my heart break.

He wasn't there.

I refused to believe it; my mind wouldn't even register the thought. I got up from where I was, so close to the edge of the mountain, and searched the whole surface, going behind bushes, looking for footprints, _anything_.

I knew that in my heart I wouldn't find anything. He wasn't there, I realized, suddenly very numb. I had scoured the whole mountain top, and he wasn't there. I could spend the rest of my life searching, and he still wouldn't be there.

"No," I whispered, my voice hoarse with fear, sadness, and above all, furry.  
>"No!" I yelled again, leaping to my feet, hoping that I would get an answer, but all I heard was my echo, my voice bouncing off the rocks and boulders of neighboring mountains, and finally, bouncing back to me.<p>

Still, I refused to believe that I would never see his bright blue eyes again, never smell his unique scent, and never see his brilliant, rarely seen smile. He was the soul reason I got up every damn morning and marched my ass in there an hour early, just to have an extra hour with him, alone in the quiet and peaceful bullpen. I would never have those moments ever again, I realized.

I slowly sank to my knees, shaking uncontrollably, my tears were hot as the slid down my cheeks, I felt each tear burn its own hot trail, and yet, it wasn't enough. The pain that was slowly and viciously gnawing at my center, where my heart used to be, wouldn't stop. I wanted to just make everything pause, end it, right now, but I knew that I couldn't.

I don't know how long I sat there, curled up, but suddenly, I heard a crackling of rocks and a steady stream of curses.

I didn't move from where I was, only curled up tighter, my grief still pouring out, when I heard _his _voice, the voice of a man that I had thought to be dead.

"Kate!"

It was a fearful cry, one of not only fear, but of joy as well. I felt _his _strong arms encircle around me and hold me tight against him, but I still refused to uncurl.

I didn't know if he was just a fantasy, a hallucination from all the pain and exhaustion, and I didn't want to know. I wanted this to last forever, just to hit the pause button and make myself comfortable in this mans arms for the rest of my life.

"Kate?"

This time, the voice was questioning, hinted with concern as he gently put me down and slowly, carefully, as if I were just a frail child, uncurled me.

"Katie, it's me, open your eyes," he whispered, I could smell his scent and knew that even if this was a hallucination, my mind wouldn't be able to dream up his specific smell. It was a mixture of many things, indescribable, and yet oh so sweet.

Slowly, ever so slowly, with tears still sliding down my face, I obeyed. Immediately, I was greeted by the sight of those bright, piercing blue eyes that I thought I would never see again, vibrant, and full of life, and concern, concern for _me, _that ate up my heart.

"Gibbs," I breathed, still too shocked to let it fully register.

He gave me his signature smirk and nodded.

I jumped at him, throwing my arms around his neck and making him fall back onto his back. I cried into his shoulder and he held me tight right up against his chest, his arms wrapped securely around my back. I felt protected, I realized, I felt, home.

I stayed like that, with my arms around his neck, relishing the feel of his body beneath mine, breathing, moving, alive.

"God, I thought you were dead," I breathed, my sobs slowly coming to a stop.

He laughed, a real laugh, not the hard bark that was not often heard in the bullpen and said, "Kate, you think a few mobsters can take me down?"

I pulled away slightly, my arms still around his neck, he was still lying flat on the mountain's surface, looking up at me, his hands now at my waist.

I felt the tears well up again and whispered, "Then what took you so long to get here?"

I let one tear slide, and the whole dam seemed to burst open. Still, he was silent.

"When I was running, I was crying and worrying about you. When I was climbing this damn thing with my leg bleeding all over the place, I was still crying and hoping that you were ok. Hell, when I got to the top of this damn mountain I was still worrying about you! God, do you know what it was like, having to just sit up here, alone, in the dark, and hoping and praying that you were OK? Do you know what it was like waking up this morning and thinking that you were dead? Huh? Do you?"

I felt the tears pouring down my cheeks and dripping onto his shirt as he held me and let me blow up, he was silent throughout this whole ordeal, occasionally wiping my tears away.

Then, when he thought I was done, he shook his head, "I'm sorry," he whispered, to my amazement, "For putting you in that situation, Kate, I'm so sorry."

I stopped, and whispered, tears pouring down my cheeks, breaking me wide open, "Do you know what it's like thinking that the man that you love so much is dead? That you'll never be able to see his bright blue eyes again, never able to tell him that you love his smile, and, above all, never being able to tell him that you love him and that you have loved him ever since you met him?"

His hands were now on my cheeks, wiping away my tears, one by one. He was silent; his eyes were soft as they looked into mine. He slowly shook his head, and hesitantly, ever so slowly, pulled my face down to his so that we were inches apart.

"I'm breaking all the rules here, Katie," he whispered, a few centimeters apart, "Never did that before."

I shook my head ever so slightly and answered, "I'm right there with you, Gibbs, we'll jump this one together."

He nodded and pressed his lips firmly against mine, his hands in my hair and my arms around his neck just as the sun reached its apex and shone down on us.


	6. Chapter 6

He got back into the car, brushing away his long strands of unruly black hair away from his face. There was no use standing out in the hot sun, not when his men were very capable of tracking both of them down.

He had gotten away, though, that was what bothered him. No has ever gotten away from him once, let alone twice.

"You better find them," he hissed to the man next to him, making the scrawny man cringe in both fear and respect.

"Yes, yes, and when we do you can have them first, I promise, just don't hurt me," he begged.

This put a smile on his face, the fear, it was like candy to him, sweet and enjoyable, but he could never get enough.

"Drive, before the trail goes cold," he ordered, his voice hard as he stared straight ahead.

"B-but, my lord, there are mountains up ahead, we can't possibly drive up the mountains!" The man stuttered.

He turned to face him and said, pulling out his gun and pointing it to the helpless man's head, "I said drive."

The car roared to life instantly, making the three heads shoot up from behind the bushes.

The man looked out the window and gave his men a cruel smile before waving as the car sped away, leaving the three men stranded out in the desert.

Gibbs POV

"Kate," I groaned, "Stop, we can't do this, we have to get out of here first."

Her kisses were soft and sensual, her lips were teasing as they kissed mine and made their way down my neck.

I felt her laughing against my neck, and whispered, "Gibbs, you can stop this whenever you want."

I groaned again, she knew that I didn't want this to stop, god, I just wanted to stay here with her and let her continue doing what ever the hell she was doing.

I slowly sat up, gently pushing her off of me and setting her next to me. I got to my feet and helped her up, examining her thigh. The bleeding had finally stopped, thank god, but I couldn't see below the bandage.

"We should get going," I told her, bending down to pick up my shirt and sliding it over my head.

She nodded, and picked up both of our bags and began jogging in front of me, swinging her hips slightly as she went.

I looked away, and felt a faint blush creeping up my neck. God, she had no idea what she was doing to me.

I went to catch up with her, and put my arm around her waist, taking some of the weight off of her right leg.

We went at a fairly good pace the rest of the day, crossing countless valleys until we were at the foot of the second mountain, the biggest one, and the final one.

I looked around, it was starting to get dark, the sun was slowly sinking below the eastern sky, making the sun glow a bright orange as it sunk.

"We should stop here, there's no way we're going to scale this thing in a few minutes," I told her, getting out a blanket for us to lie on and another one to cover us.

She nodded and immediately collapsed beside me onto the blankets. I lay down beside her and smiled as her arms automatically wrapped around my waist, as if we had been together for months. I smiled at the thought.

"Gibbs," she whispered, her face buried in my back, "When are we going to get out?"

I turned slightly towards her, letting both my arms rest on her hips, and whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "Soon, Katie, I promise. Then you can move in with me and we'll be together."

She smiled, "Rule number twelve?"

I shrugged, "I'd break all the rules if that would get you to smile at me every day, Katie."

With that being said, she gave me a bright smile and promptly closed her eyes and fell asleep, her head resting on my chest and mine resting above her head.

I woke up to the sounds of muffled footsteps far off in the distance. I gently untangled my body from hers, draping the blanket over her and smoothing it over her shoulder. I placed a gentle kiss on her lips and slipped away to investigate the sound.

It was pitch black out and I didn't dare bring the flashlight, it would let people know where we were and the zipper would be too much noise anyways. I crept across our little camp site towards the tall bunches of lavender in the valley.

The moon was bright as it shone down but was slowly covered by clouds, making it even harder to see. I strained my ears to hear the previous footsteps, and only heard the hollow whistling of the wind as it tugged at my clothing.

Suddenly, I felt an arm encircle my throat. I kicked out reflexively, but it was no use. I felt another man's arms wrap around my legs to keep me still as the world began to blur until all I could see was complete blackness.

"Kate," I choked on her name, and I was out.

Kate POV

I felt the morning sun shine bright on my face and smiled, grateful for its warmth. I felt the spot beside me and instantly sat up, my eyes wide open.

"Gibbs?" I murmured sleepily, looking around only to see that the blanket was fully draped over me and he was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he just went out to get us some water, I tried to reassure myself desperately, but I felt my heart begin to race just the same. I felt sweat beginning to slid down my face as I walked around our make shift camp sight, looking for any clues or messages he might have left.

I turned around to see that the valley was close by and began jogging towards it, my mind a blur of thoughts.

The sand seemed to crunch beneath my feet from lack of rain, and I focused on that sound, for now.

Once I got to the valley's edge, I bent down to see that there was indeed several shoe prints left on the sand.

"More than one person," I mumbled to myself and saw a small pool of blood beside them and froze.

The blood loss wasn't fatal, by any means, but it was enough to get me worried. This could only mean one thing, he was kidnapped.


	7. Chapter 7

**That last chapter was crap. Let's see if I can make it up. **

Gibbs POV

I felt my body being bounced around in a truck and winced, I seemed to feel every rock that we went over. How did I get here? I wondered, still unable to open my eyes.

I tried to touch my face, but my hands were bound behind me. Suddenly, as if cold water were being poured over my face, I remembered.

I got vague clips of last night, being hit on the back of the head and falling to my knees. I remembered waking up to the feel of white hot pain as a knife slowly and deliberately dug its way into my arm and left a bleeding trail in its path.

I tried to sit up but felt my body argue and fell back down onto my side, wincing slightly. I forced my eyes open to see a mass of black in front of me. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the light, my heart pounding in my chest.

What if they had Katie? I wondered, and froze.

"Kate?" I called out quietly, no answer.

"Kate!" I called out louder, and heard a groan beside me. Immediately, I leaned down close enough so that I was able to identify a mass of chocolate brown hair filled with light red streaks. She was unconscious.

I turned around and brought both of my hands to her neck to feel for a pulse and to my relief, found a slow but steady on.

First things first, I thought, get the hell out of these cuffs.

Kate POV

I looked at the blood one more time and felt my stomach rebel and turn in summersaults. This is his blood, I thought, suddenly feeling very cold despite the hot desert sun.

I have to find him, I thought over and over again, I have to find him.

I turned away from the blood and immediately slammed into a rock hard chest.

I was so stunned that I didn't react till the unknown man's arms were wrapped tight around me.

My training kicked in, I brought my foot up and kicked him straight in the stomach, and heard him grunt. I pushed myself away from him and ran, pumping my legs hard and fast.

I heard heavy breathing behind me and pushed myself harder, trying desperately to numb out the fear that was slowly and steadily growing inside me. I felt the wind whip around me and felt sand fly in my face, making me start coughing.

"Come here, little girl," he growled, the accent's Arabic, I thought, before I felt a stinging pain radiating from my leg.

I couldn't keep this up much longer, I thought silently, just as I felt those arms encircle my waist and lift me up.

"Let me go!" I roared, knowing that it was no use. I tried to kick him again, and suddenly felt something cold and hard against my back.

"If you relax, this will hurt less," he laughed, and pulled the trigger.

I froze in fear, and tried to move, but realized that I couldn't even blink. I tried to kick him as he threw me on the ground and knelt down beside me, an infuriating smirk on his face.

He laughed, a cold bark, "You are very pretty, he will be happy that I found you early."

I tried to lift myself off the ground and run, but realized once again that my body was numb and wouldn't move an inch.

He picked up a baseball bat beside him and my breath caught in my throat as the bat began its descent down. I tried to shut my eyes as the medal rod came closer and closer to my face. I wanted so desperately to close my eyes and curl up, I struggled against the invisible bonds that held me in place, until, everything was black.

"Kate!"

I smiled, relishing what seemed to be a dream. I heard his voice again, one I didn't think that I would ever hear. He sounded so worried though, I frowned, my smile disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, what was wrong?  
>I tried to ask him, but couldn't move my lips. I couldn't even open my eyes.<p>

"Kate!" I thought I heard him call again, and wanted to reach out to him, but it was pitch black. I couldn't see anything around me, and his voice was fading.

Suddenly, I felt a hand brush my shoulder and forced my eyes open. It was still pitch dark, I looked down to see that the floor was medal, no chance getting out through there.

"Gibbs?" I called, uncertain if he were here.

"Kate?" I heard him answer, I heard him moving towards me and leaned back against the medal compartment's walls. My head felt like it was about to explode and the fact that the truck was bouncing uncontrollably didn't help.

Suddenly, I felt a warm body beside mind and smiled with relief, he was here, he's not dead.

"Kate, did they take you too?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, I was looking for you and then a man just grabbed me. Are you ok, Gibbs?" I whispered, my throat sore from lack of water.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

I nodded and let my head fall onto his chest and snuggled close to him. I tried to put my arm around him, but discovered that I was cuffed.

"Dammit, they cuffed you too, didn't they?" I asked him and felt the truck lurch to a stop, making us fall onto our backs.

I swallowed against the lump in my throat as I heard car doors slam and heavy foot steps approaching the back of the truck.

I felt my body tense and I struggled into a sitting position just as the sound of medal grinding against medal pierced my ears and the bright afternoon sun temporarily blinded me. I heard voices talking in rapid Arabic while I felt their hands pulled me out of the truck. I struggled to see through the bright white light, but all I got was black spots blurring my vision.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds as the men dragged us away from the truck to god knows where.

I felt someone nudge me and opened my eyes again and was able to make out a pair of bright blue eyes.

He nodded at me, silently asking if I was alright and I nodded back. We were pushed into a wooden room with a single window on the roof and dust clouding the air.

As soon as we were shoved in, our captors closed the door. I shook myself off of the floor and looked at Gibbs, who was now standing and pacing back and forth, looking between me and the single window.

"Can you get up on my shoulders, Kate?" He asked quietly, so quietly that I barely heard him.

"What?" I wondered, completely confused.

"Get on my shoulders, I'll push you up and you can make a run for it," he said, his eyes were filled with loss of control, something that was totally new for him. He looked feverish, his skin was flushed red and he looked like he was ready to do anything to get out.

"Gibbs," I said calmly, "The ceiling is too high, we're going to be wasting energy if we try that."

He looked at me, no, glared at me, "We have to get out of here, Agent Todd, we can't just stay here and wait for them to hurt us!"

I looked at him, this time with fear. His voice was so sharp and full of anger that it made me want to shake but I kept myself in control.

I heard footsteps approaching the door and stood perfectly still against the walls of the small cramped room, my eyes glued to the door. The door burst open, sending in a few waves of sand and dust.

"You thought you could escape _me, _Agents?" he laughed, his voice heavily accent.

"We did," Gibbs said dryly.

I looked at the leader of the mob. He was dressed like an aristocrat, an expensive suit, hair slicked back, sunglasses on and to my surprise, a matching ascot.

"Well we caught you again, no problems. Now, enough chat; tell me, are your agents coming after you?"

I looked at Gibbs and he answered calmly, "No."

The man laughed, "So they don't even know that you're here?"

Gibbs nodded again, his expression completely blank.

"So I could kill you and no body would know until they find your bodies delivered all wrapped up."


	8. Chapter 8

**Updates are taking forever because finals are a month away and track is coming to Championships, so I don't have much time, sorry for making you guys wait!**

Kate POV

I refused to let him see my anger, and instead, composed myself so that my face was a blank slate.

"Yes, that's true," I told him, "But you won't, because u need something, what is it?"

He gave a full blown laugh and tugged on the golden cuffs of his suit, examining them with a small smirk on his face.

"You're smart, I like that, but that doesn't mean that I have to keep you around. I'm just waiting for my boss to get here."

I looked at him, and waited for him to continue. My mind was reeling from the fact that he could've just planned this whole thing, gave us a fake paper trail to chew on on his deals to South America and aboard Naval ships.

He looked at me, his dark eyes boring into mine, that infuriating smirk still on his lips, "That's right, I was never much of a dealer. I'm not that high up on his list of men yet, the man that you will see in a few days time will decide whether or not you die. He said keep them alive, nothing more."

I turned my head towards Gibbs, my jaw muscle jumping. How could he have deceived us into thinking that it was a fake trail when we had the drugs in our hands with his finger prints all over them?

To my surprise, his face was completely calm, washed of any emotion, the one that they taught us to have when we are first recruited. I never exactly mastered that.

"So you led us in a goose chase, but how did you know that the case would land in our lap?" Gibbs asked, leaning forward and off the wall ever so slightly.

He shrugged, "We heard that you were the best group of agents, you guys get the biggest case load. We gambled our chances there, but our sources told us that we were correct. And here you are, handcuffed and lying in a worthless heap, the both of you."

I resisted the urge to tackle him and kept perfectly still, trying to work my cuffs from behind.

"So you'll just keep us here until your boss arrives?" I asked, looking at the slightly scuffed Italian leather shoes.

He nodded, "Alive, yes, but he did not make us promise to not hurt you. We can begin now, if you'd like."

He stalked towards me like a panther eyeing it's prey with hungry eyes. I slid away from him until my back was against the wall and I couldn't move anymore.

He laughed and cupped my cheek with his palm, letting his thumb rub circles across my skin.

"You're so tempting, do you know that? I could just take you right here, right now," he breathed, his breath foul and made me cringe away.

"Get away from her."

Four words; but those four words, if said by the right person, could make any man start shaking and backing away. Cold black eyes met steal blue ones, and I noticed his change in posture, he went from confident to hesitating and unsure in a matter of seconds. Just by those four words.

He looked from him to I, and back again. He slowly got up and inched towards the door, his eyes blazing with unsaid furry.

"You'll pay for that, you'll both pay. If I can't have her now, then I'll just wait until you're unconscious."

He walked out of the door and slammed it behind him. I heard rapid shouting in Arabic outside and then heard the grinding of machines.

I looked at Gibbs, my alarm showing and he motioned for me to get closer to him. I obediently inched my way over and to my surprise, he put his arm around me.

"You were out of the cuffs this whole time?" I whispered in his ear as I snuggled against his chest.

He gave a small chuckle and nodded, pulling me close to him and trying to cover up the sound of grinding gears and shouting with his hands.

"What are they going to do?" I asked him softly, and as if it were planned, we were hit with a blast of water.

I didn't see where it came from, but as soon as the water touched my skin, I felt like a thousand knives were piercing through me. I gasped, and immediately shut my eyes, the burning sensation making me want to just die. I gasped, tried to breath, and ended up breathing water in.

As suddenly as it had appeared, it stopped.

I looked around, trying to find the arms that had held me so closely right before the blast and not succeeding. I looked up and saw the blank, wooden ceiling staring back at me, and the only window up on top, seemed to be mocking me.

I turned to my side, and tried to breath, but each breath hurt. I found Gibbs lying still at the far end of the room.

"G-Gibbs," I rasped, my throat scratched raw from the water I had inhaled.

I got on my side and began throwing up the water that I had inhaled, retching violently and watching in shock as the water poured out of my system.

"Come on Kate, you're ok," I heard his voice in my ear and turned again in surprise to see him next to me, rubbing circles in my back, his hair dripping wet and his eyes a brighter blue then ever, it seemed.

"Gibbs, are you ok?" I asked him, dropping onto my back and looking at him full on.

He gave me a crooked grin and nodded, "You were in front of me, so you basically took the blow of the water."

"Do you know where it came from?" I asked him, struggling to sit up against the wall.

He shook his head, anger suddenly engulfing him, "It all happened too fast for me to realize where it happened. You going to be alright?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm not going to whine about a little water."

He laughed, "That's my girl."

I heard the now almost familiar grinding of machinery again and froze in mid laughter, they were getting ready for another blow.

"Dammit, we have to go for cover," I whispered, looking around the deathly empty room.

"There is none, we should look at where the water's coming from, and stay down, curl up in a ball and just -"

But he never finished his sentence.

At the corner of my eye I saw jets of water fly out from what looked like machine guns and shoot at us. The water hit me from both sides and I felt my eyes tearing up. I couldn't breath again, and felt my lungs burst from the lack of oxygen.

I felt myself flying and then I hit the opposite wall. I prayed that it would end, but it didn't. I felt the pressure of the water sink into me and press me flatter against the wall, suspended, almost. I chocked on the water I accidently breathed in and felt like my throat was being ripped apart.

"Gibbs," I choked out, looking around and opening my eyes for the briefest second. I couldn't see him, he wasn't there.

Water seemed to shoot down my mouth and I began choking on it until, finally, it stopped again. I felt my body fall from the wall and I felt myself landing on my stomach. I picked my head up, the room was spinning and the darkness that had been in the corner of my mind was slowly dominating my vision.

"Gibbs?" I whispered one more time before everything went black.

Gibbs POV

I never finished my sentence.

I saw what looked like guns appear from within the walls of the wooden room and shoot out tow blasts of water.

I immediately turned to see Kate being thrown across the room and ran to her, trying to out run the blasts when they hit me full in the back, knocking the wind out of me.

I stayed down as the water blasted on top of me, some of it managing to get into my face. I felt a rumbling on the floor that I was on top of and suddenly, I got a mouthful of icy cold water.

I gasped and immediately tried to spit it all out and breath in air, but it just kept coming. The water pierced through my already torn clothes and hit me in the chest.

My throat felt like it was being scratched raw and the water that slid down It was now burning my lungs.

I waited for it to stop, trying to calm my brain down, but it didn't. I began panicking, I couldn't breath, I wanted to scream out. My lungs were close to bursting now.

Suddenly, it all stopped and I felt myself falling, and falling, and falling.

I couldn't see anything now, everything was all black, the last thing on my mind was a single word, with only four letters, the name of a woman that I hoped to see soon: Kate.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow the reviews were really nice! Thanks a bunch guys, here's another one! **

**Kate POV**

I felt something hard nudging my body, the pressure slowly building. I tried to turn away from whatever it was, but my body didn't seem to want to respond.

Slowly, painfully, I became aware of the radiating pain and the soreness and dryness of my throat. My body felt battered and I felt like I had swallowed about twenty gallons of water in the past hour.

The "thing" that was nudging my body became more intense, now kicking and making me feel like I was being rolled over and over again down a hill.

I tried to find my voice and miraculously, I let out a soft moan and jerked my arms towards whatever it was that was kicking me, trying to shield my already battered body.

"Ah, you're awake."

That was his voice. I didn't know the man's name, I realized, just his voice and what he looked like. I tried to picture that aristocratic smile on his lips, the expensive suit and the Italian shoes, all tied together with dark, almost dead black eyes that seemed to suck you in like a worm hole.

I struggled to open my eyes but my body declined and kept them closed. I breathed in shallow gasps, the effort of raising my arms had seemed like too much already, but I struggled against it all and opened my eyes.

The room we had been held in blurred into view, the dull wooden walls, now sodden with . . . what?

"Did you enjoy the water works?" He asked, giving a soft chuckle of delight.

The water. Suddenly, it rushed back. The roaring waves pounding against my body, the sensation of my lungs being ripped out and my throat burning, it all came back, full force.

"G-Gibbs," I choked out, "W-where is G-Gibbs?"

I was now shivering from the cold, my body shaking from the shock as well; and yet I couldn't concentrate on the cold, my mind kept drifting to a certain man with electric blue eyes.

I opened my eyes again and came face to face with the same black Italian loafers that had been nudging me awake. I tilted my head upwards to face him and rolled onto my back, seeing his cruel face stretch into one of those cruel smiles made my stomach turn.

"Oh, you're agent? He's in the corner, we can wake him up later, if he's still alive. My men went a few rounds with him, I let them since he shot one twice," he bent down so that his face was now only inches from mine, "But you, I get to have you all to myself."

I felt rage suddenly pour into me, drowning out the pain and the aches. Suddenly, I felt like I had all the energy in the world and I hated the man in front of me with so much fury that it was almost inhumane.

I wanted to slug him. I wanted to shoot him. Hell, I wanted him dead at my feet. I curled my hand into a fist, and jerked my arm upwards, but suddenly, it stopped.

I looked at my arm to see that it was chained to the wall, I was only centimeters away from him and yet I still couldn't touch him.

I yelled in fury and tried to kick at him, but again, it only came up a few centimeters short. I couldn't touch him, but I was so close.

He burst into a full blown laughter, "How does it feel, knowing that I am so close and yet you still cannot even lay a hand on me?"

I wanted to scream, wanted it all to pour out, but refused to let him know how upset I was. I quickly composed my face, turning off all emotion and let my brain start thinking clearly.

_This is what Gibbs taught you to do, always stay in control. He's a cocky little bastard, he's bound to have a flaw somehow. Make him break first, stay in control._

I could practically hear his voice in my ear, whispering those words of encouragement. I pictured his kind blue eyes staring into mine and suddenly, the anger evaporated as suddenly as it had come.

Make him break, I thought in my head, make him break.

"Well he got away once, he'll get away again," I told him bluntly, "After all, your security isn't all that great, what do you have, 5, 6, men?"

I gave a harsh laugh despite the scratchiness of my throat, "You think us trained federal agents can't get past you? I mean, just because you dress nice doesn't mean that you're all that smart, it just means you get dumb asses to do your dirty work. You're nothing without them, without them, you're just another guy looking to get money, a guy with his heads in the clouds."

I watched and calculated his moves in my head as I spoke and quickly saw the anger rising in his eyes, making his face flush a light pink. His eyes were now coals, and he was struggling to stay in control.

"I got you right where I want you, you can't just pick the locks when you can't even reach your other hand," he fought back, "I'm stronger then the both of you."

I laughed again, the sound making me wince internally, it sounded like sandpaper rubbing against a tree.

"Really, is that why you have a girl chained to the floor? Any half ass can take a girl that's chained to the floor, it doesn't take a guy with much strength to do it, especially when you just blasted her with 20 gallons of water. Face it, you didn't do any of this, you had help. And even if you hit me now, you'll never get the self-satisfaction that you're stronger than us."

Suddenly, the anger in his eyes now held insecurity. He opened his mouth and immediately closed it, suddenly unsure of what to say, his cocky smile now wiped clean.

"That's not true," he whispered, "That's not true!"

I glared at him, "We both know it's true. You want to be the boss, but you can't because you cant take the pressure, you're not _strong _enough. Hell, you have to chain people down to make them listen to you."

His eyes were now flaming and he looked like he was ready to punch me in the face. Just a little closer, I prayed, eyes the keys he had tucked in his back pocket. My hand itched to grab it so I could give him one in the face, but he wasn't there yet.

"You don't know me," he growled out, his face now red, "You don't know what I am capable of."

He leaned in closer, closing the distance, his face now just one millimeter away from mine. Slowly, I let my hand slide across the rough wood and towards his pocket, at the same time my eyes never left his.

"Yes I do, I deal with people like you every day and I put them behind bars every day. Hell, sometimes I even get to shoot the dumb ones, one's like you," my voice held no emotion, just a carefree smile graced my lips, hiding my turmoil and my nervousness perfectly.

My hand inched upwards and I was about to dive in and grab the keys when he abruptly jerked away from me. I let my hand fall to the ground again and let it rest parallel to my other hand before he noticed.

"You aren't worth my time," he growled out again and opened the door, letting the harsh sunlight stream in.

He left the door open and I heard him yelling in Arabic and strained my ears, trying to hear him, but couldn't even make out the faintest of words.

Suddenly, two men strode in, and in between them, they had a man that was dripping wet with multiple blood stains on his shirt and a black bag over his head.

They carelessly tossed him in a corner and put the handcuffs back on him, and left.

I looked at the man in the corner, and wanted to curl up and cry. I wanted to cry about all the pain, how it was just so unfair that we had to be in this situation, I wanted to cry for help, but it would never come.

"Gibbs?" I whispered his name hesitantly, hoping that he would answer me.

I tugged on the chains violently, trying to reach him, scratching my wrists raw. I didn't stop, just kept on tugging, hoping that the chains would somehow come loose.

"Gibbs! Wake up, please, don't do this to me, dammit wake up!" I yelled, my voice frantic as I tried to rip his bag away from his head and look at him.

"Please," I whispered, tears sliding down my already wet cheeks, "Please, Gibbs, wake up, for me. Please."

My wrists were beginning to hurt now, but I couldn't stop. I had to check to see if he was ok, I couldn't stop. His form was so still, his shirt, once white, was now dotted with thick blood patterns that made the shirt look like a child had finger painted on it.

His blood made me cringe with both fear for his life and anger towards the men who did this. When or if I see those two men again, I vowed to kill them.

"Gibbs, don't do this, please, Gibbs," I whispered, my voice sounding so much like a child's, "You can't die, not when we just realized what we feel for each other, you can't just leave me!"

But he still kept deathly still, so still, that I was willing to bet that he wasn't even breathing.


	10. Chapter 10

Gibbs POV

I was floating away from the pain, away from the cursed desert, away from humanity itself. I felt so free, the pain and the stress that had been building for over 20 years was now lifted and I could just let it all go.

I looked up into the sky and saw the bright sunset, it's colors a soft orange, yellow, and pink, with golden gates shinning in the distance. I reached out with my hand, eager to push through those gates and take my place in the long awaited haven.

But I couldn't reach the gates. I felt something holding me back, and looked down to see that my feet were ties with a thick metal coil, attaching me to the compound.

At first, I was so confused. Why wasn't I pushing through the gates? Why was I still attached to that place?

I made myself float down wards and through the wooden roof to find the source of the metal coil. To my surprise, it was a woman. The most beautiful woman I had ever seen, her hair a tangled mess, and yet still so soft and silky as it framed her face, her eyes, a chocolate mocha brown, so blissfully sweet I could drown in them.

But why was she crying? Tears were pouring out of those sweet brown eyes, and her delicate, soft pink lips were yelling something. I came closer and heard her voice, like a siren's song, I wasn't able to pull away.

"Gibbs, don't do this, please, Gibbs," she begged, and I saw her yanking violently against the shiny metal chains encasing her to the floor.

I felt rage bubble up within me, who would date chain such an angel? Why couldn't I just bring her with me into that haven, so that we could both be free?

"Gibbs," she tried again, her voice sounding so small and heart broken, I felt myself breaking.

I followed her beautiful eyes and saw . . . _me. _

I was sitting perfectly still against the wall, my head had a black bag over it. She was yanking, trying to get to me again. I could now see that the cuffs around her wrists were now stained a rusty red.

This was why I couldn't leave, I thought, as I looked away form me and back at her. I couldn't leave her here, only God knows what they would do to her if I did.

Her ties to me were too strong, I couldn't just clip them like a simple string from a balloon. She needed me here, and suddenly, the haven I had thought was so perfect, now dissipated into a faint memory.

"I'm coming, Katie, hang on."

Kate POV

I lunged at his body with all my strength, ignoring the pain as the cuffs cut deep within my wrists, grinding against them.

"Gibbs," I whispered, my voice sounded so hollow and weak that it scared me.

I couldn't keep this up much longer, I was fading in and out, the nausea was over taking my brain and the dizziness was no help. I needed water, and food, I realized, and stopped, my eyes just glued to his form.

"I'm coming, Katie, hang on."

His voice jerked me out of my stupor of dizziness and I turned so I could fully face him, still unsure if what he said was real or just a hallucination.

"Jethro?"

"Kate, I'm here, don't cry, please, I'm here," he whispered, and tugged the black bag over his head and threw it on the floor despite the handcuffs.

I gasped at what I saw. He was still the man I loved, no doubt about that, but his face was marked with black and blue bruising, his nose had long sense stopped bleeding, but the trail of blood it left behind made me want to hurt the men that did this to him more then anything.

He hesitantly walked over to me and bent down on his knees so that we were eye level and let his hand cup my cheek.

"Gibbs you scared the crap out of me, don't ever do that," I whispered, trying to stop the inevitable tear that traced itself down my cheek.

He gave me a smirk, "Did you honestly think that you could get rid of me so easily?"

I shook my head, "Not for a second."

He brought his lips on mine in a sweet kiss, and I felt my body respond. I tried to wrap my arms around his neck, but the chains wouldn't let me get anywhere close.

"Dammit," I cursed under my breath and broke apart.

His eyes went towards my wrists, eyeing them up with an indescribable expression, one full of anger and frustration.

"Stop struggling against them, you're scratching your wrists raw, Katie. We need all of our strength to get out of this hell hole," he murmured.

I looked at his hand cuffs, they looked simple enough to get out of, so why hadn't he started picking them yet?

"I'm sure there's something we can use to pick your cuffs," I told him, looking around the mostly barren room.

"Go get out of those, and then you can tell me what to do," I told him, smiling.

He nodded and walked away from me, scouring the room up and down, almost pacing, his eyes glued to the wooden floor in search of any type of medal.

Suddenly, a thought struck me, "Gibbs! The clip in my hair, can you use that?"

He was at my side in an instant and with a quick nod, he undid my already messy bun and took out two clips.

He began working at picking the lock as I stared him down, checking his wounds. His shirt was dirty and I was willing to bet my life that there was a lot of bruising under the thin material. The men had worked him good.

After what felt like forever, I heard a subtle click and the rattling of handcuffs being thrown away.

"They don't have cameras here," he told me, "so they won't know that we're doing here."

I nodded and watched the door, my heart pounding as he bent over my right wrist, sliding the clip through the lock's opening smoothly and he began working it again.

"What are we going to do when we get out of this?" I asked him, trying to make my heart rate slow down.

My eyes were still glued to the door, my ears on high alert for any footsteps besides his own.

"We're going to take out a guard first, grab his gun, any water or food he has on him and move on. If we find a cell phone or even a land line, our first call goes to DiNozzo," he told me, his breath in my ear, tickling my neck.

I nodded, "How many men are there?"

I heard a click and was suddenly able to move my right wrist. I grimaced in pain as I stretched it, the cuffs had dug deep, clawing away skin and leaving my wrists raw.

"About seven," he told me, now working on my left.

I nodded again and felt the need for water over take me again, we both needed something to eat and drink or we would never make it out of the desert.

"Do you have any idea where they took us?" I asked him.

Suddenly, he was quiet.

Gibbs POV

"Do you have any idea where they took us?" She asked, a perfectly innocent question, but one that brought back so many harsh memories.

I remembered being roughly woken up after the water had practically burned me inside out and dragged out the door. I had forced myself to stay alert and as we walked out into the sunlight, I made out a town in the distance, not too far away, but far enough so that they wouldn't suspect anything.

The men brought me to a clearing where there was just sand, sand, and more sand. There, I was cuffed behind my back and watched as the sleek black baseball bat came down, over, and over again.

I had refused to let the worthless bastards hear my screams, and curled up into a tight ball on my side, trying to breathe through the excruciating pain that was now circulating up my side and making it hard to breathe. Every breath hurt worse then the water guns being trained on us.

The sound of rapid cursing brought me back to my senses and I saw the leader leaning over me and tug me to my feet. To my dismay, I could barely stand straight without the filthy bastard's help. He tugged the black bag over my head and then I felt one final blow, and everything went black once again.

Kate POV

"Gibbs?"

I watched his eyes get that far away look, as if he were somewhere else entirely, and then he was back again, those eyes once again a piercing blue.

"What'd you see?" I asked him quietly.

He looked at me, at first with a glimpse of the inner turmoil he was going through, and then he blinked, and it was all gone. I heard another click and knew that he had freed my other hand.

"Gibbs," I pressed on, "What did you see?"

He shook his head, "I'll tell you after we get out of this, Kate, it's better if I tell you later."

I let it go for now and a silence settled over us. The only sound was now the click of the locks popping open. When he undid the last one, he was back at my side and helped me to my feet.

"Can you walk?" He asked quietly, earlier traces of hurt and discomfort gone.

I nodded, "I'll be fine," I told him and took a few steps, his arm still around my waist. My ankles didn't hurt as bad as my wrists, thank god.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, and looked towards the all too silent door.

He shrugs, "We wait for them to open the door and we jump who ever the hell that person is and take 'em down."

I nodded at smiled at his frankness.

I stood behind the door and Gibbs took the other side. I watched as the lock slowly turned and clicked open. In walked the so called "aristocrat."

He didn't even get a chance to open his mouth. Just as he closed the door, Gibbs was on him, and quickly gave him a swift and powerful punch to the temple, effectively knocking him out cold.

I quickly slid off my tattered shirt and make shift shorts and slid on his cotton shirt, handing Gibbs the blazer, I took off his dress pants and pulled them on. Once the fabric touched my bullet wound, I winced.

I picked out a knife he had at his belt and took the bottle of water he had clutched in his hand.

I looked up at Gibbs and he nodded, pointing towards the door, we slowly eased it open.

**The next chapter we see our favorite characters fight their way out! **


	11. Chapter 11

**THIS IS RATED M FOR RAPE…by the most unlikely person. IF YOU'RE NOT MATURE ENOUGH DON'T READ THIS OR IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT, JUST STOP. **

Gibbs POV

The hallway was blessedly clear; I breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked out of the door, our captor's gun clutched tightly in my right palm. I walked and motioned for Kate to follow and took off at a run around the corner.

Everything looked the same, the walls were the same wood, the same design, and I was willing to bet all made by the same person. It was like a maze and we were the rats stuck in the middle.

There were doors on either side, but to my dismay, I didn't remember which one lead to our freedom.

I began slowly easing open the doors to my left, and Kate did the same with the ones on her right.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of nausea strike me and I had to steady myself by leaning against the door's frame.

"These rooms are all empty, Gibbs," Kate whispered in my ear, suddenly behind me.

I nodded, not saying a word, I continued on, turning more corners and opening the first door I saw. This one had a flight of stairs going downwards.

I nodded towards the stairs and she followed. We jumped three at a time, desperately trying to get out. My feet pounded against the cool cement of the stairs as we went down step after step.

Finally, there was a door at the bottom, the same type of wood as all the rest. I pulled this one open and felt the hot sun burn against my skin. Despite the blinding bright light, I was overjoyed, we were going to make it.

"Kate, we made it," I whispered, turning around and expecting to find her hazel eyes glaring through the sun.

Instead, I realized I was talking to the air.

Kate was no where to be found. I looked around, and then back up the stairs, I hadn't heard anyone coming, so where could she have gone?

"Kate!" I yelled, hearing my voice echo and bounce off the walls made my stomach flip. This was not good. The whole place couldn't be empty, not so soon.

I drew out the gun I had tucked into my belt and held it in front of me. I went up a few stairs and was disappointed; she wasn't here. How did she just disappear into thin air?

Suddenly, I heard heavy breathing behind me, I whipped around, and that was the last thing I did. At first I felt a blinding pain, and then, nothing.

Kate POV

I followed him down the stairs, jumping them along with him. We were so close, I could feel it. I was beginning to start sweating and my breathing had sped up and I felt tired as hell, but I had to get out. That was the only thing keeping me going.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs and he stopped at the door, I felt my heart drop, the door was exactly the same as the ones we had open.

With our luck, it lead to another flight of stairs.

Suddenly, I felt a gloved hand cover my mouth, making me breath in a strange scent that made my head hurt.

I felt myself being pulled back, away from Gibbs. I wanted to cry out and kick, but I couldn't move; my body was slowly shutting down, and I felt my eyes close.

I woke up with a start, someone was lying over me, but it was too dark to make out who it was. Their breathing was heavy, and I felt sweat on their body. But the thing that stood out the most was that I was actually _comfortable, _I felt soft cotton sheets beneath me and I felt an even softer pillow underneath my head.

I tried to push the man off, but he wouldn't budge.

"Get off me," I mumbled sleepily, still coming out of my stupor.

I felt his hands on me, first starting with the first button of my shirt, and then, as if too impatient, ripping my shirt apart.

Suddenly, I was fully awake. I jerked my eyes open, but it was still too dark. I could make out a lamp on the side table, but there was nothing else. Only a dark shape over me, breathing heavily.

"I said get off!" I screamed, kicking out at him.

He groaned a little and I froze, I knew that voice.

Suddenly, I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn't even move.

I felt his hands tear at the pants I had taken from our captor and rip them off, leaving me in only my bra and panties. I tried to make my brain function, to do _something _to protect myself, but couldn't.

"Gibbs," I whispered, my voice hoarse, "Please, don't."

He didn't seem to hear me, and I felt my bra being ripped off and my panties being thrown across the room. I was crying now, tears of humiliation and confusion. What was he doing? Why couldn't I move?

As if as soon as I found out who was on top of me, I was frozen. I couldn't fight him, I realized, all I could do was lie there and hope he comes out of what ever he was in.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain down there and screamed out as he entered me. This wasn't Gibbs, this wasn't my love, my savior, no, this was a twisted mutated version of him. He pumped in and out of me with unsaid fury.

I tried to push him off, but again, he wouldn't move. I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks and sobbed. His hands were cupping my breasts and squeezing hard, this wasn't what I wanted, I wanted to yell at him through my tears, but I couldn't.

I felt his hot seed enter me and I fought even harder, kicking him squarely in the stomach and sending him backwards, but it was too late.

"Gibbs!" I screamed, sobbing and sitting up, I turned on the lamp I couldn't reach before to see that he was now at the very edge of the bed.

I gasped, this wasn't him. His eyes, once a clear, crystal blue, were now clouded in a drug endued stupor, a thick haze that was full of lust. They drugged him; I thought to my disdain, _they drugged him._

"Gibbs," I sobbed, curling up into a tight ball, "Fight it, please, don't hurt me anymore, you're not that type of person. This isn't you, this isn't the man that I love!"

The last words seemed to make him come out of it. Suddenly, his eyes cleared and were back to that crystal blue I loved so well.

"Kate, what-" he stopped dead and reached out to touch me. I automatically shrank away from his touch.

"What happened?" He finished, rubbing a hand over his face.

I couldn't tell him, I just sat there, sobbing and refusing to look at him, anywhere but at him.

"Kate," he whispered again, now at my side, laying a hand on my shoulder and rubbing soothing circles.

"They drugged you, and you," I started sobbing again, tears clogging my throat.

He seemed to understand, because his hand retracted and I felt him move further away. I heard the rustling of blankets but didn't dare pick up my head.

"God dammit," I heard him mumble, his head in his hands.

Suddenly, I heard a sharp crack and my head shot up. I found him standing in front of a large hole in the room; his fist began flying through the plaster, punching it over and over again.

Without even hesitating, I ran over to him and pulled on his arm to stop him from delivering the next blow.

I stood in between him and the now hole ridden wall, staring up at him. He had covered his waist with a towel, but his chest was still perfectly bare.

"Kate," he whispered, tears in his eyes, "Did I really?"

I couldn't lie to him, he'd find out sooner or later. I nodded my confirmation.

He nodded back and I saw grief wash over his features, make him suddenly look twice as old as he really is. I could see the pain that seemed to radiate off of him, making my heart break as well as his. I held him against me, tight, as if that would ease the pain.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, tears sliding down his cheeks, "Kate, I am so sorry, I-I ruined your life. I can't believe I did that to you, I'm so sorry."

I pulled his head down into the crook of my neck and just held him as his arms encircled me. I held him as he cried, rubbing circles in his powerful back. I cried with him, tears sliding down my cheeks until both of our tears were mingling.

Gibbs POV

Lust. That's the only thing that was going through my mind. I had to have her, I had to take her or I just might die. I ripped at her shirt, not hearing her complaints, they seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

God, she was so beautiful, I thought, staring at the exposed skin, a perfect white. It looked so soft and silky. I ran my hands over her body starting with her shirt and unbuttoning the first one, then, as if too impatient, I just ripped the shirt open to reveal her lacy bra.

I didn't waste any time, and ripped her pants off as well until she was clad in matching lingerie. I let my hands roam up to her full breasts and squeeze them through her bra, then threw it across the room, her panties followed.

Suddenly, the lust seemed to stop. I tried to fight against it, against the cloud of drugs that had settled over my minds and heard her begging, heard her pleading to stop and heard her crying and trying to kick me off.

I groaned as she landed a square kick to my ribs, but didn't seem to stop. I went under again, and the monster resurfaced.

I grabbed her breasts with no mercy and squeezed them, feeling the lush soft skin. I moved closer to her still, until I was stationed right at her opening and thrust in with all my might. I heard her cry out but in my muddled brain, it sounded like a cry of joy, not pain.

I kept pumping in and out of her, moaning with pleasure. I felt myself climax as her wet walls contracted around me, pulling me in deeper.

I moaned again as I released my seed into her and right after that, I felt her leg come up and kick me squarely in the stomach, sending me backwards towards the end of the bed. Suddenly, the fog lifted again and I was left breathing heavily and confused.

I looked down at myself to see that I was completely naked and dripping wet. My eyes narrowed, what the hell was going on?

I turned to see Kate, and my eyes widened with horror. She was like a goddess, her skin a perfect milky white with a slight tan, glowing in the moon light that shone in through the slits of the curtain. He body was curvy and looked so soft in all the right places.

"What happened?" I choked out, still in awe.

To my surprise, she began sobbing violently, and she tucked her head into the crook of her arm, trying to quiet herself. I saw the pain that washed over her features and my heart sank. Did the bastards rape her? If they did, I swear to god I'll kill each and everyone of them, I thought.

"Kate," I whispered, prodding her to explain to me, my voice soft and reassuring.

"They drugged you, and you," she couldn't go on, her tears clouding up her throat.

I froze. No, this couldn't be happening. I would never . . . no! I would never hurt her like that, I wanted to tell her, I wouldn't . . .

I scooted away from her, a look of horror and disbelief on my face until I was on the very edge of the bed again. God, did I really, I thought, and wanted to punch myself. I couldn't remember a damn thing.

I felt pain and horror build up inside me until I was completely numb.

"God dammit," I hissed out, my head in my hands. I ruined the purest woman in the world. I had imagined that one day we would get together, but not like this, I had never dreamed that I would force her into something as sick as this. The strange part was that I didn't even remember, it was like I had no damn control.

I leapt off the bed and before I knew it, my fist had flown through the hotel wall, making a good sized hole. I couldn't stop, the pain inside me was growing to become unbearable and I began punching the wall rapidly, tears pouring out of my eyes.

How could you? That voice inside my head mocked, making me cringe.

Suddenly she was in between me and the wall, stopping me from doing further damage.

"Kate," I whispered, tears in his eyes, "Did I really?"

She hesitated for a moment and nodded slowly, almost unnoticeably.

I nodded back and rubbed a hand over my face as I cried, the pain was eating away at me. How could my self control break? How could I hurt her, when I had sworn to myself that I wouldn't? I wanted to yell with rage, but I couldn't even speak. I was still choking on my tears.

She hugged me against her, pulling me down and I tucked my head into her shoulder, crying and whispered softly, "I'm so sorry, Kate, I am so sorry, I-I ruined your life. I can't believe I did that to you, I'm so sorry."

I repeated those words as if they were a mantra over and over again while she held me, rubbing circles in my back and comforting me, but all the while, silent.


	12. Chapter 12

Kate POV

I let him cry, let his tears pour over my bare shoulder and slip down my bare body. I cried with him, we cried tears of fear, helplessness, and regret. Regret seemed to be pulsing form him, it was in every breath that he gasped in.

Finally, he stopped, and withdrew from me. He looked at me, his hands on my shoulders, his blue eyes even brighter because of his tears, and his face crumpled with pain.

"Katie," he began, but I put my finger to his mouth, making him stop and he automatically did.

I shook my head at him, "It's not your fault, Gibbs, I know you would never do that to me if you had the choice. It was the drug. I understand."

He shook his head, "It's not OK, I should've been able to stop myself, if I loved you enough, then maybe . . . maybe I could've told myself to stop. Maybe I'm just not worth your time, Kate, and you should find someone else."

I looked at him, shocked. Was he serious? Did he honestly think that we weren't made for each other now? That broke my heart to pieces, how could he say that?

"How could you even think that," I whispered, stepping closer to him, "I love you, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and nothing you do can ever change that."

I brought my lips to his and felt him stiffen at first, than relax into my embrace. Slowly, hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer in.

After a few seconds, he pulled apart and looked around the room. The old Gibbs was back, and he was taking action.

I smiled inwardly as I took in his profile, chest bare, and muscles rippling with anger, each one defined.

"Why did they bring us to a hotel room?" He asked, not turning to look at me, he handed me a towel to wrap around myself.

I shook my head, I had no idea, "Why not just let us stay in that pathetic shed? It's a lot more risky here now that we're in civilization."

He nodded, "And harder to guard," he added.

I nodded back and heard a crackle of electricity and stiffened as an all too familiar voice sounded over the hidden speakers.

"Yes, it is harder, but this time we know that you will not get away."

I felt my breath catch in my throat at that voice. It was the voice of the man that had the audacity to imprison federal agents and drug them as well.

"You bastard, if you had any guts, you'll come in here and fight us; but no, you have to hide behind your men. We can and will get out again," I told him, my voice dangerously low.

I heard silence on the other end and then the sound of a phone being hung up.

I looked at Gibbs, mouthing the words, "Cameras and mics."

He nodded and we began scouring the room for hidden cameras. I found two lipstick cameras on top of the bed's heard board and quickly removed them. I found a microphone clipped to the pillows and got rid of that one as well.

After we were sure that everything was disabled, we sat on the bed, facing away from each other; stuck in our own thoughts and worlds.

"Does your gun shot wound still hurt?" He asked, his back facing me.

I looked down at my bare thigh and saw that the wound was only slightly red and raw, and it only stung.

"No, it's healing up," I told him, feeling an uncomfortable silence settle over us.

Finally, I felt movement on the other side of the bed and then felt his hands on my shoulders, and his warm breath tickling my ear.

"What I did was wrong, Katie," he began, pausing for a second, and then continuing, "But one day, I'll make it up to you and I'll make love to you like you've never felt before. I promise."

He pressed a kiss to my neck and I smiled, turning my head, I kissed his cheek.

"We need to find clothes, then a way out," I whispered in his ear and felt him nod against my neck.

We both got off the bed and went to the closet. I found a white shirt and jeans and slipped them on. Miraculously, they fit perfectly.

I heard his towel drop with a thump and he pulled on boxers and a pair of identical jeans and t-shirt.

I looked around the room, and spotted a phone that was probably bugged. I then looked towards the curtains and pulled them apart to reveal a lush green forest basking in the moon's bright glow.

"Gibbs," I whispered, "where are we?"

This looked nothing like Arizona, the state that we had been in just a few short hours ago . . . or was it days?

He came up next to me and his brows narrowed, "Where the hell did these bastards take us?"

I shook my head, just as confused. How did they transport us without us waking?

Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked a man clad in black, his gun clutched tightly in his beefy hand and his eyes narrowed.

"He wants to see you."

He didn't wait for a response and began dragging both of us out the door. We let him. We had to know where we were and what our surroundings looked like.

I looked at Gibbs who gave me a small nod and I began my observation. It was indeed a hotel room, the numbers on the doors painted a bright gold, and the carpet soft underneath our bare feet. Everything seemed perfectly ordinary.

He stopped at the Presidential suite and slid out his room key and opened the door and pushed us in.

Waiting for us was _him. _He had on a fresh suite, light blue shirt, dark navy blue tie and matching dress pants. He had his hair slicked back and looked like he had just gotten out of the shower.

"Hope you're enjoying your stay here," he drawled, looking between the two of us and smiling, "I know he did. I saw the whole thing, you have a very nice body."

He turned to me and came forward, smiling brightly and warmly, as if he were greeting old friends.

"You're a sick bastard for doing that to us," I told him, practically spitting in his face.

He laughed and turned back around.

I looked at Gibbs to see that he was assessing the man's every movement, his eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched. It was taking almost everything he had not to respond to what he said.

"Well, you must be wondering where you are," he began again, sitting at a desk and propping his feet up, "You're actually very close to home, we're in Washington DC, well, just on the outskirts of the city, as you may have guessed."

Suddenly, he got up and strutted towards us and pressed his face just inches away from Gibbs's face.

"How does it feel to be so close to home and yet so helpless, _Special Agent Gibbs,_" he asked, his voice harsh.

Gibbs simply shrugged, "You're dancing on a fine line, the cities surrounded with agents, and my team's already looking for us. They're going to find us now that we're so close."

He simply laughed, "How? You don't have GPS tracking systems on you anymore, I dislocated them a while back, and you can't even take a step without me not knowing. Plus, to get out of this hotel, you would have to have a room key, so how could you possibly get in touch with your team?"

He laughed again, this time doubling over in laughter. He looked sick, giggling like a child. There was something very wrong with him, I thought.

Gibbs gave him an easy smile and said softly, darkly, almost, "We're going to get out in a matter of seconds."

He stopped laughing and looked at him incredously, "How? You have no gun!"

"5," Gibbs began, his voice soft.

I looked at him, confused, what was he planning?

"4," he continued, catching my eye and nodding slightly towards the mahogany desk.

"3," Gibbs looked at him, and I saw the color drawn from our captor's eyes. He was getting scared.

"2."

I tensed my muscles, ready to leap at the desk.

"1."

I launched myself into the air and at the desk, landing on top of it and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gibbs leap at the man and catch him in a choke hold, putting a mouth over his hand, his arm began crushing his windpipe.

I didn't waste any time, any minute now the guards would be leaping through the door and taking us away.

I pulled open drawers and found both of our cell phones, to my surprise, fully charged. I flipped through the draw to find black files he got on us and tucked those underneath my arm. I opened the second drawer and found the GPS chips in a small box. I hurriedly stuffed them into both the phones.

I tossed Gibbs his and he stuffed it into his pocket. To my surprise, the man was already unconscious. I found two of the hotel cards and a bottle of water stowed in the last drawer and took it with us.

Suddenly, I heard a deafening crack that made my ears pound with adrenaline. I turned to see three men with AK-47's rushing at us.

Gibbs leapt from his crouched position and kicked the gun out of the first man's hands and it flew to the floor. He quickly delivered a quick blow to his head, promptly knocking him out.

I attacked the first man, just as he opened fire. I dodged and rolled away and my leg snaked out to kick him in the back of the knee, sending him down.

The gun went flying and I grabbed it. I slammed the but of the gun at his head and fell onto the carpet, a gash in his head.

"We have to move," Gibbs growled, grabbing the folders that I had found, he tucked them into his shirt.

We sprinted out the door, and towards the elevator. We heard yelling behind us as we reached the elevator and I frantically began pressing the call button.

I heard them gaining and felt adrenaline spike into me again. Once the doors were open we were inside the elevator in less than seconds. I hurriedly closed the doors just as the men reached us and pressed the lobby floor.

I looked at Gibbs as the elevator made its decent and he gave me a reassuring smile and gave my hand a squeeze.

"We'll be OK," he told me softly.

I nodded, and we both heard a loud thump on top of the elevator and looked up in alarm just as the lights went out.


	13. Chapter 13

**It was my 14****th**** bday yesterday so that's why I didn't post, sorry guys!**

Kate POV

I felt the elevator shake with the impact and leaned against the elevator doors. The small elevator was suddenly very dark and seemed extremely cramped. I waited for the emergency lights to turn on and when they didn't, I looked at what seemed like the outline of Gibbs to see that he was figuring out a way out.

"What the hell was that?" I whispered, going over to him.

He shook his head, "Either they threw a bomb down at us or his men forced open the doors and jumped on it to make sure that we don't get anywhere," he told me, looking at me and trying to calm me down with just one look.

I nodded and looked at the controls that were lit up. I gently pushed him away and let my hand run through my hair until I found one of the pins that held some of my hair in my face. I quickly opened the control panel and looked at the wires.

"Do you have a flashlight on you?" I asked, cursing at the pitch black.

He nodded and pulled out a small one he had swiped, a small smirk on his face, trying to lighten the situation. I smiled and took it, putting it in my mouth and shinning it at the several wires tangled together.

I immediately looked towards the two wires that weren't connected to the main battery and cursed.

"They planned ahead, unplugged the wires from the main battery so that we would stop at this floor," I cursed and began working at the wires with the pin, connecting them one by one carefully, when I heard another thump, making me stop for a second.

We both looked up to see that there was now a huge dent protruding from the ceiling of the elevator, we heard yelling and then a shrill sound of a drill.

I quickly turned back to the control panel again, my brain going into over drive. I plugged in the rest of the wires and jammed the controls back in, screwing it back on, I frantically pressed the lobby button.

I looked at Gibbs to see that he was pulling out the gun the men had shot at us with and reloaded it. He tossed me the other one and I quickly caught it.

God, I thought, hurry up and get down! I felt my hand tighten on the gun and felt my muscle quivering with anticipation and adrenaline. My eyes were glued to the rapid yelling now, in surprise and in anger. The drill had stopped for the moment, but I knew that it was going to go on again soon, and that made my stomach turn.

I tapped my foot impatiently and waited for the doors to open. My eyes darted back and forth from the dent in the ceiling to the numbers slowly, painfully slowly, descending.

After what felt like several decades, the doors opened and we were both out of there like a shot. I heard yelling behind us and turned slightly to see that there were a few running down the stairs.

"Come on," Gibbs growled, grabbing my hand and pulling me through the elegant sliding doors.

"We have to get to NCIS, before they catch up with us," I told him, as he pulled me behind the hotel, away from the pounding footsteps and rapid fires.

He shook his head, and flipped open his cell phone, and quickly began dialing.

I heard voices behind us and tensed, "Gibbs, no matter what you hear, I want you to make sure that you can get to the Director or DiNozzo, OK?"

He looked at me like I was crazy and began to protest when I pressed my lips to his in a quick, brief, and yet passionate kiss. It said all the words that I was afraid to say, everything that I was afraid to say if I didn't come back.

Before he could deepen it, I pulled away.

"KATE!"

I rounded the corner and opened fire on the seven men with AK-47s, armed and shooting. I dropped to one knee and shot in a wide ark, getting three in the chest and making them drop.

I quickly rolled away from the remaining four and felt a bullet tear through my shoulder and cried out, but kept rolling until I reached the neatly trimmed bushes and quickly leaped over them, getting to the other side and once again, opening fire.

The sounds of bullets being traded back and forth was deafening to my ears and I had to squint to see them through the bright blasts of fire. They were relentless in their assault, but to my surprise, I kept them at bay and they couldn't seem to come any closer.

I felt my shoulder burning from the exertion I was putting on it by holding up the gun that had always seemed to light to me. I got the another one down and realized that I had no bullets left.

"Shit!" I cursed, looking around.

Suddenly, firing on both of our ends stopped. I looked over the bushes to see him smiling, a blood curling smile and reload his AK-47, and coming closer, every step was slow and agonizing.

I took a deep breath and looked at my shoulder to see that blood was already beginning to coat the upper half of my bicep and slowly worked it's way down. The moon out made it easier to see everything, the bright white light painting the man coming closer in a silver silhouette, almost as if he had a halo.

I counted to three, and sprung out of my hiding spot, doing a 360 turn and landing a kick to the side of his face, and he went down, with me on top of him.

I kicked the gun out of his hands and landed a solid punch in his face, making him gasp in pain.

"Bastard!" I cried out, and kept on punching him, until he grabbed my wrists and pinned me down, making my head snap against the concrete.

I gasped in pain as bright white circles danced in my vision along with black spots guiding their way.

He took my head in his hands and slammed my head against the concrete again, promptly making a sharp pain fly through my skull.

Suddenly, I heard a gun shot and waited for the pain to disappear, and when it didn't, I felt unconsciousness pull at me until I relented.

"Gibbs," I whispered, trying to find him, but my vision was slowly fading and I didn't even know if he heard me.

Gibbs POV

I hung up the call and looked around to see Kate struggling against the man. I fumbled for my gun, cursing the whole time and managed to shoot him right after he slammed her head against the concrete.

"KATE!" I yelled, running to her body to see blood pooling underneath her already.

"Come on, Kate, wake up," I whispered, picking her head up and putting it in my lap. I heard sirens in the distance and turned to see the NCIS van speeding towards us and coming to a dead stop.

"Boss!"

"Kate, you have to wake up, come on," I ordered, tears forming in my eyes.

He body was limp in my arms, and I could barely feel her pulse, it was as if it wasn't even there.

"Ducky! I need you to drive her to Bethesda immediately," I yelled, looking for the doctor while still cradling her body against mine.

"Jethro! Is everyone-," he stopped dead, "get me the gurney, Jerald!"

I picked up her limp body and brought it to the white gurney, her skin now paper white with blood cascading down her arm from her shoulder.

"You have to make it, Kate," I whispered in her ear, smoothing her hair back and held her hand.

Her body was beginning to grow cold and I felt my heart constrict with fear.

"You can't leave me Katie, we were going to start our lives together. You can't just leave," I cried, almost yelling at her now.

But she still lay there against the stark white sheets, her blood slowly covering the white sheets, almost painting them completely red.

My hands closed around her shoulder, pressing down hard to try and stop the bleeding.

"God, please don't take her away from me, not now. Please, let her stay with me."

But I knew that there was a chance she wouldn't be opening her eyes again and that made my heart just break. I let my tears fall onto her body, tears full of the dark and excruciating uncertainty, tears full of pain and heart break.

"I love you, Katie," I told her softly, and felt her slowly slipping away from me.


	14. Chapter 14

Gibbs POV

I felt the car jerk to a stop, her hand still clasped in mine, I heard the dull sound of the medal doors opening. Everything around me seemed blurred, out of focus, as if I was slowly being sucked into my own world, being held captive by my own torment and being beaten by an unknown force I couldn't stop.

In this world, there were only two people, me, and the woman that was turning deathly pale and slipping away beneath me. There was nothing else. All around us, there were darkness, unforeseen, and untold of darkness that seemed to suck the breath and life out of everything that was living. That darkness was slowly consuming her, taking her, and controlling her.

I couldn't do anything about it, all I could do was beg and plead with the darkness to let her stay, let her live, and let her be free.

"Jethro!" I blinked and suddenly, I was back inside the NCIS ME van, with Ducky glaring at me, his voice full of worry as the doctors rushed out of the hospital and tried to get to Kate.

I nodded and helped them lift the gurney from the back of the van, and set he down gently. I looked around at the unfamiliar faces, still incapable of speech.

I looked at the nurses, all of them with fright on their faces, and then at the more advanced doctors, their brows furrowed as they began connecting her with oxygen tanks and blood pressure monitors right in front of the building.

"We need to get her into surgery, now, doctor," one of the nurses said.

"What happened to her?" the doctor closest next to me asked, as I rushed her through the sliding medal doors and down the brightly lit white halls.

"We were in Arizona," I whispered, finally finding my voice, "She's severly dehydrated, she has a through and through gun shot wound through her thigh and a fresh one at her shoulder. The guy that was chasing us slammed her head against the concrete a couple of times."

I swallowed hard, feeling my core being ripped apart, and almost doubling over with pain. This couldn't be happening, I though, beginning to relive it all. I pushed the memories back for later and ran her through the ER doors, and was about to go in, our hands still linked, when they began pushing me out.

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't go in there, the surgeons have to operate on her immediately, and we can't have you in there," a nurse said apologetically.

I felt anger roaring up inside me, and I didn't let go of her hand; I couldn't. It was the only link I had to her now, the only link that kept us together. I couldn't let go of it, couldn't just give her up.

"No, I'm going with her," I growled, trying to push past them, but they were suddenly like a brick wall, and I was suddenly growing weaker.

I clung onto her hand for dear life, but slowly, reluctantly, they made me pull away, and I was left with an empty feeling not only in my heart, but in my entire being. I ached for her, I ached to see her smile, her laughter, I ached just to see her _breath._

"Come on boss, it'll be ok," I felt the weight of a hand resting on my shoulder and turned, slightly disoriented to see DiNozzo behind me, his face a mask of grief.

I shook my head, "That should be me in there, not her. I should've gone out there and she should've called you. _I _should've taken the bullets, the beatings, not her. She shouldn't be in there, she should be _alive."_

That floored him. The young Italian stared at me, full of incomprehension and then, suddenly, as if I had just simply flipped a switch, pain. I saw pain for his partner, pain for the fact that we may never see her again unless it be at her funeral. Suddenly, I thought, I made him realize that her life just might end on that damn operating table, cold, and alone.

"Jethro, our Caitlin will pull through alright, now, would you like to tell us what happened?" I turned again to see Ducky beside me, his arms crossed over his chest and his brows drawn together.

I opened my mouth, and suddenly, I was engulfed with the memories. I remembered our car spinning out of control, the hot desert air, pouring into our lungs and robbing us of any water we had left in our bodies, the men capturing us and almost drowning both of us with water, and finally, the night I had lost my control.

I remembered how I couldn't feel anything, just the need to have her, to finally have that connection, and now, I just wanted to shoot myself for giving in. I remembered the moment when I saw her go down, how my heart had stopped and when it had started, I remembered feeling as if poison were being pumped through my veins.

Lastly, I remembered how much I had loved her, how much I had wanted to tell her that since the day I met her.

"Jethro," Ducky prompted again.

I shook my head, "The group we were trying to catch, they were prepared. They were armed, and we were stranded in the desert for a while until we were taken else where. Nothing more then that."

I couldn't speak of the subject, not yet. I had to know that she was OK to even remotely begin to talk about what had happened in Arizona.

_It's just another wall of scars to add to your collection, Jethro, _I thought and felt a tear fall down my cheek and drop onto the pristine white marble looking floor.

Kate POV

Pain. White hot pain. And then, blessedly, nothing. Just the dark, cool waters pulling to me and making me go under, and peace, oh how sweet that peace felt. I felt like I was floating, floating away from the pain, the devastation, and the fear.

I was free, I wanted to laugh, wanted to burst with happiness, and soar further away faster, but the process was slow, agonizingly slow. I felt myself slipping and felt the urges to fight diminish, and finally, disappear all together.

Now, the blackness was slowly turning into a bright, glowing light that bathed my sun in warmth and made me smile. I wanted to dive right into the glow, but suddenly, I felt something pull at me.

It was a single word, four letters, and meant the world to me. It was a single pair of blue eyes, shinning bright with tears and devastation. It was a man who had been so strong that was now detraining from the inside out. I couldn't leave just yet.

I looked down at Gibbs, his head was in his hands, his form slouched and a small puddle of what looked like water was at his feet. He had been crying.

I looked towards the light again, and wanted so desperately to go towards it, but slowly turned myself away and went back to him, and let the dark waters encompass me.

ER room

"She's crashing," a nurse growled, getting the paddles as the doctor finished sewing up her thigh. The woman was beautiful, the nurse had thought when they had brought her in.

"Charge up 200," the doctor ordered, he was working on her skull, trying to do his best to repair the damage. He would save her life, he had promised her that as soon as she had come in. He would do anything to save her, because he just couldn't bear to look at her husband, was it her boy friend, and tell him that she hadn't lived, that she had died at his hands.

It was agonizing just for him to leave her, it would be even more painful for him if she left for good.

"No pulse, doctor," the nurse repeated, already charging up to 400.

"I need suction here, nurse, charge up to 400," he ordered, feeling sweat beginning to form under his brow.

He moved out of the way as the paddles came down, and made her body flop like a fish up and down on the operating table, her body pale and limp.

He held his breath, willing her to wake up, praying to God to start up her heart again.

"We got a pulse, doctor," the nurse told him, she was beaming with joy.

The doctor smiled and continued his work, a renewed sense in what he did, all because of this woman.

Gibbs POV

It had been five hours, and no one had come through those damned doors. I had been watching the doors for five hours, glaring at them, demanding that they open to reveal the doctors that had taken her into the operating room.

I had begun passing after the first five minutes and neither DiNozzo's sighs of impatience nor Ducky's soothing voice made me stop and sit down. I had to occupy my mind, and to keep up hope that she was still alive, just trapped, in there some where.

He thought of calling her brothers and her parents, but decided against it. They would all be flying through the hospital with anger on their faces and that's what he didn't need.

Suddenly, as if the doors had finally given in, the head doctor emerged, a changed man. His face was slightly paler then before and he looked drained of energy.

I immediately went up to him, demanding an answer without saying a word. I searched his face as he hesitated, searched his clear green eyes for an answer, but found none.

I felt my heart constricting with each second he didn't say a word, until her finally opened his mouth.

"We managed to save her," he began, "but she's in a coma. I'm sorry."


	15. Chapter 15

Gibbs POV

I froze, my heart froze, my breathing froze. Everything quickly just stopped and stood still. I couldn't hear anything more, although I knew perfectly well that the doctor had more to say about her.

"How long will she be in a coma?" I asked quietly, cutting him off mid-sentence.

He shook his head, "We're not sure, we're pumping in fluids and antibiotics into her now to prevent infection. We should hook you up to some fluids and antibiotics as well, seeing that you were in the same situation as her."

I shook my head, "Focus on her, I can drink water by myself, thank you very much."

He nodded, hesitantly, "Well, there weren't many complications in surgery. We only lost her once, and managed to get her back again. Her injuries should heal just fine, but the concussion she has probably made her body go into overload, so she has to sleep it off."

I stopped again, "What do you mean you lost her?"

They almost lost her in surgery? How could they almost loose her! Weren't they trained well enough, didn't they have their fancy PHDs or masters degrees? How could they loose her even for a second?  
>"We got her back, sir, don't worry about it. Her room is 305, in the ER room, first door on your right."<p>

I nodded and sprinted through the ER doors and stopped at her door. Did I dare go in and see what kind of state she was in? Did I dare see what had happened to my darling girl, all broken on that damned hospital bed?  
>I shook my head to clear it and slowly opened to the door, and walked in. I froze. Her body looked so small and frail on that hospital bed, her body hooked up to several machines that were keeping her from drifting further away.<p>

I pulled up a chair beside her bed and took her hand in mine. Her skin was cold, and yet still as soft as ever. I pressed her palm to my lips and gave her a soft kiss, first kissing her knuckles, then the tips of her fingers.

"God, Kate," I whispered, feeling grief flood me again, "this wasn't suppose to happen to you, you're suppose to be at home in your own bed at your own apartment, completely relaxed, on lying on this damned bed fighting for your life."

She didn't stir. She just lay there, oblivious to everything. It hurt me to think that she was only partially alive, only partially the Katie that I loved so much that it made my heart constrict every time I looked at her.

Only the steady beeping of the heart monitor kept me informed that she was indeed awake. Otherwise, I would've assumed the worst.

"Boss?"

I turned to see Tony leaning against the wall, I hadn't even heard him come in. He looked haggard, and ten years older. He looked just as pained as I did, and probably felt just as bad.

"She's gonna be alright, right?" He asked, his voice resembling that of a child's. All trace of the tough agent underneath his façade had seemed to disappear.

I hesitated, I wanted to tell him so bad that of course she would be alright, she was so damn strong. But another part of me was nagging at me, chewing me in the center, telling me that even the strongest woman didn't have a definite possibility of surviving after a few days in the desert and multiple gun shot wounds and a concussion.

"I don't know," I told him, and heard the sharp scrapping of another chair beside mine until he was sitting next to me, looking down at his partner.

"Boss, go home, take a shower, get some rest, I'll stay here with her and I'll tell you when she wakes up," he offered, already his eyes were glued to her still frame.

I shook my head, "I can't just leave her, Tony."

"Yes, you can. Knowing you, you'll be back in ten minutes flat. I can hold down the fort for that long. Abby and McGee are going to get here soon, as soon as the director lets them off."

I hesitated, until I felt those green eyes glaring at me, "Go, Gibbs, it'll be alright."

He tossed me his keys and I promptly caught them.

I nodded and gave Kate's hand one last squeeze, pressed a kiss to her forehead and walked out the door, hoping for the best.

I fingered the keys that Tony had tossed at me and went out the doors of the ER.

"I'm going to be back, Duck, just going for a shower," I told him and he nodded, a smile dancing in his eyes.

I walked out of the hospital, my heart heavy, and easily found Tony's red ferarri, and got in. Leave it to DiNozzo to buy a car that's worth twice his salary and pull it off. I got in the car, and just couldn't seem to put the keys in the ignition. I needed time to think.

I thought of how close I am to loosing her and felt pain coursing through my body once again. I can't do this, I thought, I can't just let her go, not without her knowing that I love her more then my life.

Suddenly, as if on it's own accord, I jammed the keys into the ignition, an idea bursting into my mind. If she survived, and now I had no doubt that she will, then I had to do this quickly. I couldn't put this off any longer, I had to prove to her in some way that I was madly in love with her and that I wouldn't be leaving her side anytime soon.

My foot floor the gas pedal and I streaked out of the hospital parking lot and onto the freeway. I dodged cars left and right, leaving a streak of blasting horns behind me and angry curses, but I didn't care. All I cared about was where I was going, not how I got there.

I stopped in front of a jewelry store, abruptly stomped on the gas pedal, my heart beating in my throat, and got out of the car, taking the keys with me.

I strode into the store, and was met with a neatly dressed sales woman.

"Can I help you, sire?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"You got any wedding rings?"

**I know this one's short, but that's because I have finals in exactly 2 weeks. Hm, wedding ring, does that mean wedding bells as well? (: **


	16. Chapter 16

Gibbs POV

I held her hand, standing above her and looking down at her sleeping figure. She's asleep, she'll wake up soon, that's what I had been telling myself for the past two weeks. Her face was paler then usual, but otherwise, you would think that she was just sleeping.

My heart wrenched every time I visited her after work, and I would suddenly break down in front of her, crying my tears, willing her to wake up to speak to me; but each time, she just lay there, a peaceful look on her face.

The ring box that I had kept with me in my pants pocket for over two weeks now seemed to weight heavier each day, it's presence growing greater and greater as if it sensed that the wearer didn't know about it yet.

I let my finger trace her cheek, sighing at her beautifully soft skin. The doctors had told me that everything was healing up nicely, and he didn't know why she wasn't waking up. She seemed fine physically, but emotionally . . . he wasn't sure.

I heard a knock on the door and looked up, my eyes dead.

"Hello, Mr. Gibbs, I have some interesting news for you," the doctor entered and walked towards her bed, and sighed.

"What?" I mumbled, unable to take my eyes off her.

"We did a few tests this morning and it seems that Caitlin is pregnant."

I was floored. I looked up at him sharply, my eyes narrowed. _Pregnant_? How could she be pregnant! Who could she have possibly . . . The realization hit me hard, as if it were a truck ramming into my stomach.

I suddenly flashbacked to the night at the hotel, just hours before our escape. I wanted to tear my heart out, but at the same time, I wanted to leap for joy. It was my baby, no doubt about it, but the baby had been conceived the wrong way; forced.

"Did you hear me?" The doctor prompted, looking at me with curious eyes.

I nodded and gave him a soft smile, "Yeah, doc, I heard ya. Any chance she'll be waking up soon so I can tell her myself?"

I asked him that question every day, working it gingerly into our conversation after the first few days had passed. But the meaning and desperation was still the same: When was she going to wake up? And so far each day, the doctor had told me that he didn't know; and each day, it seemed harder and harder for both him to say it, and me to listen to it.

"Soon," he told me, not giving me the date I had hoped for.

I just nodded, soon, it was craftier then the "I don't know" answer he usually had.

He laid his hand on my shoulder n a comforting way and squeezed, and left the room, leaving us alone.

"Did you hear him, Katie? We're going to have a baby," I told her, laying a kiss on her forehead.

Kate POV

"Did you hear him, Katie? We're going to have a baby."

It was that voice, the voice I had been hearing for what seemed like weeks, the voice that I had looked forward to, because his voice brought back the light, keeping the darkness at bay. I concentrated on his voice, only his voice, and was able to make out his outline.

His outline had been growing even fader each day, as if he too were burning out. It pained me to see him this way, because I knew that all I had to do was open my eyes, and everything would be fine again. The problem was, I couldn't.

"A baby?" I wanted to yell and scream with joy, I was going to have a baby! His baby . . . _our _baby.

The darkness seemed to recede a little more and I was able to find his blue eyes, somehow duller then what I was normally used to. He looked emotionally and physically drained. I remembered him coming here every day for what seemed like forever, sitting by my bedside, holding my hand, encouraging me to break away from this place and come home.

Home, god, how much I wanted to be home, with him, with the team. I looked down at myself, and laid a hand over my stomach. Another being was growing inside of me, I thought, and smiled to myself.

I had to wake up, if not to make the darkness go away, then to come back to him and tell him just how excited and happy I was about our baby.

I pushed against the darkness harder than ever, and felt myself rising towards the surface, the light growing closer and closer, until, finally, after what seemed like years, my head broke above the dark waters and I opened my eyes, gasping for air.

Gibbs POV

I let my head fall onto my lap, and sighed, a baby. Our baby. It was great news, terrific, but, at the same time, I wasn't sure if we could handle it. She wasn't waking up, I realized, how long were we suppose to wait? I would wait forever, I realized, hell, I'd rather die then leave her bedside if she didn't wake up.

Suddenly, I heard a gasp and my head shot up, hope flaring in my gut before I could push it down, my eyes opened wide.

I gaped in shock. Those creamy lids covering her chocolate mocha brown eyes were now open and fully alert, her pale pink lips were now regaining it's usual cherry pink color, and her face was regaining her usual light tan as well.

"Kate," I breathed, unable to say anything else, unable to think of anything else. Just her, her name, four little letters that made my heart flutter and skip a beat.

She looked at me, her eyes bright with tears now; of fear and something else, I realized. Before I could stop myself, I hugged her tight pulling her as close to me as the IVs would allow, letting her cry into my chest.

"Oh God, Gibbs, I didn't think I could come out, it was so dark and everything would just close in on me," she sobbed, her head buried deep into my shoulder blade.

I stroked her hair and whispered, "It's ok, Kate, what matters is that you came back, you beat it."

She pulled away slightly to look me in the eye, "Because of you. You came every day, Jethro, to remind me that I had to come home, I couldn't just stay there and let it eat me away. I couldn't stand to see you hurting and so lifeless."

I gave her a smile, and kissed her, soft at first, and she deepened it immediately, her tongue swirling around mine. She kissed me as if she had been in the desert (which wasn't totally off) for over a year and I was her first glass of water. I let her drink me in and felt her arms wrap around my neck as mine fastened tightly around her waist.

When she pulled away, I realized that I had to tell her.

"Kate," I began, "You're pregnant."

I kept it short, simple. I couldn't even meet her eyes. How would she react? Would she realize that she was pregnant because of that one night I had lost control and hurt her?

She laid a hand against my cheek and smiled, a bright, gleaming smile that seemed to fill the room with sunshine, "I heard you and the doctor talking. I was so happy when I found out, I tried to tell you, but no words seemed to come out."

"You're happy?" I ventured, unsure, "You know how this came to be, right?"

She nodded, "It wasn't under the best circumstances, but it was with you, and that's all that I care about. I want to have a child with you, Jethro, I want to be with you forever."

I took a deep breath, and smiled back, the little velvet box now seemed to weigh over twenty tons in my pocket.

Before she could protest, I sat her on the edge of her bed, and took her hand in mine, my heart thudding loudly in my chest, threatening to burst.

"Caitlin," I hesitated, "Katie," she laughed at my obvious discomfort, still oblivious to what I was going to say.

I slowly sank down on to one knee and she gasped, her eyes going wide, the hand that I wasn't holding trembling slightly.

"Katie, when I first met you on air force one, I admired you. You were just as stubborn as me and you had the courage to tell me what I could and could not do. You taught me that there was an equal out there for me, one that fight together with me perfectly. I didn't know that we were made for each other until a month after you had been working for me. We were both working late, typing up reports, and I couldn't help but notice just how beautiful you were sitting at your desk, your hair framing your face.

"I realized later on that night what I loved about you, and decided that I really did love you. I tried to hide it, tried to follow my rules, but after our car crash, I just couldn't hide it anymore. I'm in love with you, Caitlin Todd, I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our baby, I want to protect you, be with you, and love you till the day that I die. Will you do me the greatest honor and marry this selfish bastard?"

I looked at her, and pulled out the navy blue velvet box, and opened it, revealing a gold and silver ring, the metals twisted elegantly together, and a heart in the very center, surrounded by a crown of smaller diamonds, each twinkling and shinning just as bright.

"Kate, it's kinda hard to stay bent up like this," I joked, waiting for her response, trying to hide my nervousness with a joke.

"Yes," she whispered, "Oh God, YES!"

She flung herself into my arms, wrapping them tightly around my neck. I laughed, and slid the ring onto her left hand, and held her close to me, cradling her against my chest. I brought my lips down to hers and kissed her with all the love that I felt for her.

I felt as if fireworks were going off in our mouths, and the earth was shaking to the beat of our hearts, now finally intertwined after months of fighting the love we had locked up so tightly within ourselves.

"I love you, Kate, nothing will change that," I told her, pulling away ever so slightly so that our forehead still touched.

"I love you too, Jethro," she whispered, and our lips met again.

"Hey boss, I was just -."

We pulled apart, a smile on both of our faces.

"B-boss?"

We laughed, "Yeah, DiNozzo, make it quick, I'm busy with my fiancé."

We laughed again at his bewildered expression, and for once, he was absolutely speechless, and then, a smile broke over his face and he shouted over his shoulder, "Probie! You owe me twenty bucks! I told you he was going to propose!"

**THE END! SEQUEL SHALL BE CALLED "Forever, My Life With You" will be published say….tomorrow? THANK YOU ALL FOR READING AND REVIEWING! **


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